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Exclusive: ADHD Charity Slams Channel 4 Over ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’ Documentary

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The charity ADHD UK has penned an open letter to Channel 4 after it shared a new documentary will be aired dubbed ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’, HuffPost UK can exclusively reveal.

The TV channel said the show “seeks to determine whether ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”.

The show will follow NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton as he speaks to “a growing number of medical experts who are questioning the conventional narrative around ADHD”.

According to Channel 4’s release, these experts “discuss whether the real problem is the environments in which young people are growing up, as well as the current health and schooling systems not being flexible enough to cater for a wide enough range of personalities and behaviours among children”.

It will also follow a family who “want to see whether holistic lifestyle changes can eliminate one boy’s use of ADHD medication”, a press release seen by HuffPost UK reads.

Dr Max Pemberton, who features in the documentary, said: “As a psychiatrist, I’ve watched ADHD go from a diagnosis that was only occasionally made and after careful assessment, to one that is increasingly demanded and dispensed, and I wanted to understand why.

“There’s no doubt that the people seeking these diagnoses are genuinely struggling; that isn’t in question. What the film asks is whether ADHD is really the best explanation for that struggle and my hope is that we come away with permission to ask better questions about what modern life is doing to all of us.”

Dr Max Pemberton features in ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’ – a new documentary announced by Channel 4.

Courtesy of Channel 4

Dr Max Pemberton features in ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’ – a new documentary announced by Channel 4.

Backlash against framing of show

Since information about the documentary was publicly shared, some people with ADHD as well as mental health experts have revealed their disappointment over the framing of the show – especially the title.

An open letter to the channel from the CEO and co-founder of ADHD UK, Henry Shelford, seen by HuffPost UK, points out that “the damage of a title like this is done in the listings, in the commentary, before a single frame is broadcast”.

After the documentary details were shared on 29 July, Dr Chris Abbott, chief medical officer at Care ADHD, shared in an email: “Presenting ADHD as potentially no more than a ‘social construct’ is scientifically misleading and risks causing real harm to children, adults and families.”

While Dr Claudia Aymerich, consultant psychiatrist at Berkeley Psychiatrists, is also concerned by the framing, which she said “oversimplifies a far more complex issue and doesn’t reflect where the scientific evidence sits”.

In response to these concerns, a Channel 4 spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “This documentary does not deny the lived experience of those diagnosed with ADHD, but does present the view of an extensive range of senior medical experts – many of whom work or have worked with the NHS or have held presidential roles at professional membership bodies – who seek to question the conventional understanding of ADHD and if it is a neurodevelopmental condition.

“They also ask whether modern living has contributed to a rise in diagnoses, and whether there may be better alternatives for some children than medication.”

ADHD is a real and recognised condition

ADHD is recognised by the World Health Organization, the NHS and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Dr Aymerich said: “Studies consistently demonstrate differences in brain development and function, particularly in areas relating to attention, executive functioning and impulse control, alongside a strong genetic component.”

And “while modern environments, education systems, increased screen use and lifestyle factors can all influence how symptoms present or how significantly they affect someone’s daily life, they do not negate the existence of ADHD itself”, she added.

In its open letter, ADHD UK highlighted that “this is not a parlour debate. People die” and pointed to UCL-led research using UK health records which showed that adults with diagnosed ADHD have a shorter life expectancy. There was a reduction in life expectancy for men with diagnosed ADHD of between 4.5 and 9 years, and between 6.5 and 11 years for women.

“Having ADHD is tough. Undermining the condition just makes it tougher. When a national broadcaster invites millions to file all of this under ‘myth’, people cancel assessments, parents doubt their children, employers doubt their staff, and lives are put at risk,” said Henry Shelford, who has ADHD.

After a BBC Panorama programme investigating Private ADHD Clinics aired in 2023, ADHD UK surveyed more than 2,200 people with ADHD – 90% suggested stigma had increased because of the programme, and 84% believed it would stop people with symptoms from seeking an assessment.

Dr Aymerich is concerned about how the framing may impact those living with ADHD or currently seeking a diagnosis. “Many patients spend years being told they are lazy, disruptive, disorganised or simply not trying hard enough before finally understanding that there is a recognised medical explanation for the challenges they have experienced throughout their lives,” she said.

“Receiving a diagnosis can be genuinely life-changing because it allows people to access appropriate support and better understand themselves.”

She continued: “When public debate shifts toward questioning whether ADHD is ‘real’, it risks reigniting shame, self-doubt and stigma for those individuals.

“It may also discourage parents from seeking assessments for children who are struggling or make adults question whether they deserve support at all.”

Untreated ADHD is associated with consequences such as poorer educational outcomes, relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression, substance misuse and increased risk of accidental injury.

ADHD UK’s letter has called for a review of the title of the show and for the broadcaster to “make clear on screen where contributors’ views sit relative to mainstream clinical consensus”.

It also takes issue with a child being at the centre of an experiment involving replacing medication with lifestyle changes.

In response to this, Channel 4 said “the wellbeing of our contributors was of paramount importance throughout, and the observational study of one child’s medication break was undertaken in consultation with multiple psychiatrists, an independent doctor and the family’s GP”.

The open letter continues: “We are not asking Channel 4 to duck hard questions about ADHD. Waiting lists, service failure and the gulf between need and provision deserve every camera you can point at them. We are asking you to aim at the right target.”

ADHD needs to be further explored, say experts

All of the experts HuffPost UK spoke to stress that ADHD should be discussed in the media. Dr Abbott said: “There’s legitimate discussion to be had about the quality of assessments, inequalities in access, the careful use of medication and the need for holistic support.

“Diagnosis should always follow a comprehensive specialist assessment, and treatment should be individualised rather than reduced to medication alone. But questioning whether ADHD itself is ‘real’ is not a balanced contribution to that debate.”

Dr Aymerich added “there is an important distinction between asking whether we are diagnosing and treating ADHD as effectively as possible and questioning whether the condition itself exists”.

“The first is an essential scientific discussion,” she said. “The second risks undermining decades of clinical evidence and doing unnecessary harm to a patient group that already faces considerable misunderstanding and barriers to accessing care.”

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8 Film And TV Adaptations The Authors Who Inspired Them Hated

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If you love both reading and watching films, 2026 offers rich rewards – this year will see everything from new Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility adaptations to yet another instalment in the Dune franchise.

Project Hail Mary, The Odyssey, H is For Hawk, and Wuthering Heights are already out, meanwhile.

Generally, hitting the big or small screen spells good news for book sales. People can’t stop buying copies of the Homeric text after Nolan’s blockbuster; Wuthering Heights sales skyrocketed after Emerald Fennell’s controversial interpretation.

But that doesn’t mean every author is a fan of their works’ film or telly counterparts.

Here, we rounded up eight authors who criticised adaptations of their books:

1) E.B. White wasn’t delighted with 1973’s Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte's Web
Charlotte’s Web

Paramount Pictures

E.B. White, who wrote the 1952 children’s book, had been in negotiations with the production team John and Faith Hubley.

Eventually, Hanna-Barbera got the rights instead. After their animated 1973 movie came out, White wrote: “The movie of Charlotte’s Web is about what I expected it to be. The story is interrupted every few minutes so that somebody can sing a jolly song. I don’t care much for jolly songs. The Blue Hill Fair, which I tried to report faithfully in the book, has become a Disney World, with 76 trombones.”

His wife, meanwhile, told would-be director of the abandoned original adaptation, Gene Dietch, “We have never ceased to regret that your version of Charlotte’s Web never got made. The Hanna-Barbera version has never pleased either of us.”

2) Truman Capote didn’t love 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Author Truman Capote spent many years disparaging the movie based on his 1958 novel, calling it the “most miscast” movie (he’d wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part Audrey Hepburn got).

When asked what he didn’t like about the adaptation, he replied, “Oh god, just everything” – the book’s narrator role changes, as does the book’s ending.

3) Stephen King had issues with 1980’s The Shining

The Shining
The Shining

Warner Bros Pictures

Speaking to The Paris Review about Kubrick’s version of his story, King said he thought the movie was “Too cold. No sense of emotional investment in the family whatsoever on his part”.

He added that Shelley Duvall as Wendy was “insulting to women. She’s basically a scream machine…

“And Kubrick didn’t seem to have any idea that Jack Nicholson was playing the same motorcycle psycho that he played in all those biker films he did… The guy is crazy. So where is the tragedy if the guy shows up for his job interview and he’s already bonkers? No, I hated what Kubrick did with that.”

The writer had penned his own version of the script, which Kubrick didn’t use.

4) Rick Riordan disavowed the 2010 Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief flick

Author Rick Riordan let his feelings about the adaptation be known on X, where he likened the movie to “my life’s work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with [the studio] not to do it.”

He also posted, “I still have not seen the movies, and don’t plan on ever doing so… I judge them from having read the scripts because I care most about the story. I certainly have nothing against the very talented actors. Not their fault. I’m just sorry they got dragged into that mess.”

Still, the writer hinted he was “gonna fix” this with Disney+’s 2023 series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, for which he had more oversight.

5) Michael Ende called 1984’s The Neverending Story “revolting”

Going so far as to remove his name from the movie’s credits, Ende publicly described the movie as “revolting” and claimed, “the makers of the film simply did not understand the book at all”.

The author even reportedly tried (and failed) to sue in order to stop the movie from going out, saying his “moral and artistic existence is at stake in this film”.

6) PL Travers had such a contentious relationship with Disney due to Mary Poppins, there’s a whole film about it

The film, which won a remarkable five Oscars, had a very different nanny to the one in PL Travers’ books (she “never wastes time being nice”) – Travers also disliked the fact that Disney made Mrs Banks a Suffragette.

So contentious was her relationship with Walt Disney that the movie Saving Mr Banks was made to chronicle the making of the film.

7) Alan Moore, the mind behind V for Vendetta’s comics, called the 2005 movie’s writing “rubbish”

V For Vendetta
V For Vendetta

Warner Bros Pictures

When asked to weigh in on the adaptation, Moore said: “I’ve read the screenplay. It’s rubbish”.

He also told the New York Times that for a lot of the DC projects that had become movies, “I don’t want anything more to do with these works because they were stolen from me – knowingly stolen from me.”

8) Moore also slammed the Watchmen film

The writer, who claimed the studio was using his brother’s serious illness to pressure him, said of the movie: “curse this wretched film and everything connected with it”.

Speaking to GQ, meanwhile, he said: “I would be the last person to want to sit through any adaptations of my work.

“From what I’ve heard of them, it would be enormously punishing. It would be torturous, and for no very good reason… It seemed to me that what people were taking away from works like Watchmen or V For Vendetta wasn’t the storytelling techniques, which to me seemed to be the most important part of it. It was instead this greater leeway with violence and with sexual references. Tits and innards.”

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Animal Experts Reveal Stark Reason Why You Should Be Friendly To Crows

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According to National Geographic, crows are some of the most intelligent birds in the world. They have also always been held in incredibly high esteem and are considered to be symbols of prophecy, transformation, change, and freedom.

However, as majestic and revered as these birds are, they are also not to be messed with.

According to Science World: “Crows are incredibly territorial during May and June. They are known to dive and strike humans not just once, but repetitively until the human in question has moved a good distance away from the nest.”

In fact… you may actually want to be a little more friendly with crows and even befriend one. Yes, really.

Why you should befriend a crow

So, maybe you don’t need to specifically befriend a crow but you definitely need to stay on their good side.

This is because a five-year study by scientists at the University of Washington has found they possess an unusually good memory for human faces linked to a stressful event.

Not only do crows remember the faces of humans for five years, but these clever corvids can also warn their friends and family about you, too. I don’t know about you but being the target of a murder of local crows sounds bloody terrifying.

However, if you do choose to buddy up with a crow, they’ll actually bring you gifts. They may be fiercely protective and hold a hell of a grudge but they are generous souls, too!

John Marzluff, conservation ecologist at the University of Washington said that crows take part in “gifting” by leaving behind keys, lost earrings, bones, or rocks, for the people who feed them.

How to befriend a crow

According to Pet Helpful, following these steps can help you to become friends with a crow:

  • Find food that the crows seem to like and keep it in stock. Crows tend to like nuts and seeds
  • Establish a regular feeding schedule so they know when to expect you and can create a rhythm with them
  • Don’t overdo it — you don’t need to feed them meals, just enough for them to know that you care and want to befriend them
  • Don’t overdo it. Don’t feed them so much or so often that they become dependent—just a handful of something to show you care.
  • Don’t just throw the food out there and walk away. Stay at a respectful distance to watch them eat. You may see them eat it on the spot, or they might choose carefully and fly off to cache it for later
  • Don’t get too close to them as they prefer to be standoffish and may feel threatened

Brb, off to invest in some nuts and seeds.

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Diane Abbott Under Fire For Describing Ukraine War As A ‘Nato Campaign Against Russia’

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Diane Abbott has been criticised after describing the Ukraine war as a “Nato campaign against Russia”.

The left-wing MP was readmitted into the Labour Party on Friday following a year-long suspension.

She lost the whip last year after saying she did not regret past remarks about racism – comments which triggered her first suspension from the party back in 2023.

She argued in a letter to The Observer in April 2023 that Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities experience prejudice rather than racism.

She also made a separate post on social media called the Israel Defence Forces the “Jewish Defence Force”.

In a statement on Friday, Abbott said she had returned to the party after a formal warning over that post, adding: “I am deeply sorry for any hurt caused by that conflation and apologise for any hurt caused by it.”

But her return to Labour sparked backlash on social media after it emerged she described Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine as a “Nato campaign against Russia” back in June.

Speaking at an anti-war conference, Abbott said: “We meet at a crucial time for all those who are opposed to war and strive for peace.

“Because we are not trying to stop one war, we are having to fight to stop very many wars.”

She continued: “There is a military build-up against China, there is the war and blockade in Iran and, finally, there is one of the biggest wars in Europe since the Second World War – the Nato campaign against Russia.”

The revived video sparked backlash on social media from in the Conservative Party and Labour.

Abbott also wrote in the Morning Star last weekend: “The reason there is such a hue and cry about military spending now is not because Russian forces are in Ukraine; that happened well over four years ago.

“No, the reason for the outlandish claims about an imminent Russian invasion is simply because Trump demanded more military spending from Nato members…

“None of this is making us any safer. On the contrary. Russia is a major military power, but Nato is engaged in a war which is now striking deep into Russian territory, provoking widespread calls for retaliation against Nato countries.”

Labour declined to comment.

Abbott’s return to the party comes after new prime minister and Labour leader Andy Burnham pledged to end factionalism within the party.

Labour insists her reinstatement was unrelated to the party’s new leadership.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Andy Burnham Says His Devolution Plans Strengthen Argument For Written Constitution

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Andy Burnham has claimed his devolution plans strengthen his case for a written constitution for the UK.

The prime minister said the UK’s “antiquated” political system needs reform if equal opportunities are to be effectively shared out across the country.

Britain is one of the only major democracies without a codified arrangement which lays out how the country should be governed.

The UK’s constitution is currently established through history by common law, statutes and conventions.

Burnham has already decided to allow regional mayors to keep a proportion of income tax to spend on their local area by early 2028.

He has also set up No.10 North, an alternative to 10 Downing Street in the north of England, to symbolise his commitment to moving power out of Westminster.

He said his devolution plans “increase the case for a constitution because Britain is changing through this, England is certainly changing through this.”

He claimed the country needs to set up a codified model of devolution which works for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.

“In the end, I think it does start to point towards a new constitutional settlement… with that commitment to equivalent living standards,” he said.

He added that his promise to implement “good growth in every postcode” was “more than just a sound bite”.

The prime minister did not outline any time frame for implementing such a historic change.

Countries usually adopt a written constitution following major events like revolution or war, when governments need to signal a departure from previous regimes.

The prime minister first floated the idea in his 2024 book Head North, co-written with Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotherham.

He said deep inequality had become part of Britain because it had not moved on from the “feudal state” which held power in Westminster.

“Our failure fully to set out the rules for how the country should be run is one of the principal reasons why Britain is one of the most unequal major countries in the world,” he wrote.

“Our unwritten and murky constitutional arrangements have had the effect of hoarding power in a small number of hands – in Whitehall and Westminster and, by extension, in the powerful networks of institutions and vested interests that surround them.”.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Most People Have No Idea What ‘PDF’ Stands For, But You’re About To Find Out

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You’ve probably sent and opened thousands of PDFs over the years. But if someone asked you right now what PDF actually stands for, would you know the answer?

You’re not alone if you don’t. The word has become so embedded in everyday language that most people use it the way they use terms like “Wi-Fi” and “pm” ― automatically and without any particular thought about what the letters mean.

But it’s never too late to learn the answer to that mystery, as well as the interesting history behind those three letters. (And no, it doesn’t stand for “Please Download Fast” or “Pretty Delightful File.”)

“PDF stands for ‘portable document format,’ though I’m not sure anyone knows or cares anymore,” said Lisa Gitelman, a media historian and professor at New York University. “’PDF’ stands as the name of a digital file format on its own.”

She has written extensively about the PDF as a cultural and technological artifact, including in her book Paper Knowledge: Toward a Media History of Documents.

“The keyword is ‘portable’ because the format was designed to keep a document looking exactly the same, no matter which computer, operating system or device it was opened on,” said Madeline Enos, a language trends expert at the language learning app Preply.

“Before PDFs became widespread, sharing documents could be frustrating because fonts, images and layouts often changed depending on the software being used. The PDF solved that problem by preserving the original formatting, which is why it’s still one of the most trusted file formats over 30 years later.”

The origins of the PDF go back to 1991, when Adobe Systems co-founder John Warnock proposed a project called “Camelot” with the goal of developing a simplified way to view and print any document across devices and platforms, regardless of the software or hardware used to create it.

“At the time, the web was far less standardised than it is today, so creating a document that looked identical everywhere was revolutionary,” Enos noted.

Warnock’s Camelot project culminated two years after his original proposal, with the release of PDF 1.0, bundled with the first version of Adobe Acrobat.

The origins of the PDF go back to the early 1990s.

merovingian via Getty Images

The origins of the PDF go back to the early 1990s.

“PDF first appeared in the marketplace in 1993,” said Duff Johnson, CEO of the PDF Association. “Adobe, which invented PDF, continued its development until 2007, at which point the specification for PDF was handed to ISO for international standardization as a vendor-neutral technology.”

As the online environment has evolved significantly since the ’90s, so too has the PDF, Gitelman noted. Still, the file format remains an important standard.

“I once wrote an essay laying out four reasons for its enormous success,” Gitelman said. “First, PDFs offer page images – like facsimiles, like xeroxes, like microfilm, unlike word processing files or most proprietary eBook formats. This means they feel stable. They retain layout as well as content. Second, as page images, they are handy in publication workflows. Every book, every analog publication, has been a PDF somewhere in its life history. Third, they are easily transmissible across digital networks, even in low-bandwidth environments.”

The fourth and final reason: PDFs are searchable, she added.

Today, people still use the term PDF in everyday conversation, particularly in the context of work.

“We’ve certainly noticed that ‘PDF’ is used synonymously with ‘document’ and ‘file,’ as in ‘I sent him a PDF’ and ‘The email includes three PDFs,’” Johnson noted. “But the industry accepts such usage as the price of ubiquity.”

Many people also say “PDF file,” which is not quite redundant, as in the case of “PIN number” or “ATM machine.” But the term PDF does stand alone.

“Most people don’t stop to mentally unpack what the letters stand for, so adding ‘file’ simply makes the meaning clearer,” Enos said.

Still, the meaning is quite clear to most people these days.

“Most acronyms stay within specialist industries, but PDF made the rare jump into everyday language. Today, people don’t just recognise the letters – they also use ‘PDF’ as a verb,” Enos said. “It’s increasingly common to hear someone say ‘Can you PDF it?’ or ‘Just PDF that document,’ showing how technical abbreviations can become everyday words over time.”

This is a process known as lexicalisation, as the abbreviation became so familiar that it was accepted as a normal standalone word in the English language.

“While countless digital buzzwords have come and gone over the past three decades, ‘PDF’ has remained relevant because it describes a format rather than a trend,” Enos said.

The meaning of PDF has hardly changed over time, and it has gone international as well.

“PDF is one of the few digital abbreviations that has become almost completely language-independent,” Enos said. “Whether you’re in the UK, Japan, Brazil or Germany, the acronym ‘PDF’ is almost always recognised and rarely translated.”

Thus, PDF has essentially become a universal language in some ways.

“It’s a good example of how technology creates a shared international vocabulary,” Enos said. “Even people who don’t speak the same language often understand terms like PDF, Wi-Fi, USB and GPS, making them some of the closest things we have to truly global words.”

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Travel Warning: Taking These Medications Abroad Could Land You In Hot Water

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If you’re anything like me, you pack half your medicine cupboard before going away on holiday ‘just in case’.

But if you’re planning to venture abroad anytime soon, a pharmacist has warned that common prescription and over-the-counter medicines could result in confiscation, hefty fines, or even arrest in some countries.

So, make sure to do your homework before you travel.

Ian Budd, lead prescribing pharmacist at Chemist4U, said: “Most people don’t think twice about packing their regular medicines for a holiday, because they assume that if something is legal in the UK, it will be legal everywhere else.

“Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Every year, travellers are caught out by medication restrictions they didn’t know existed.

“In some countries, medicines we consider completely routine in the UK can be treated as controlled substances, even when they have been legitimately prescribed by a doctor.”

Medicines to be wary of when packing your suitcase

1. Codeine, and any painkiller containing it (e.g. co-codamol).

This is considered a controlled substance in many countries. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it’s led to confiscation, detention and in some cases, prosecution, said Budd.

2. Diazepam and other benzodiazepines

The medication, used for anxiety and sleep, is restricted in several destinations.

Budd noted that in Singapore, bringing these in without a Controlled Drugs Permit from the Health Sciences Authority “is treated as a drug-import offence, and can carry fines or imprisonment, even with a valid UK prescription”.

3. Pregabalin and gabapentin

These are used for nerve pain and are controlled in the UAE. Without a prescription and a doctor’s letter, they can be confiscated and, in serious cases, lead to arrest.

4. ADHD medicines

Several countries, including Japan, ban amphetamine-based medicines outright, even with a valid foreign prescription.

5. Strong opioid painkillers (e.g. morphine, oxycodone)

Many countries treat these as controlled drugs – without the right documentation, they can be seized, and in some cases, lead to detention or prosecution.

6. Cold and flu remedies containing pseudoephedrine

Some of these are restricted or banned in a handful of countries, including Japan.

What to do before you go away

The pharmacist urged travellers to be aware of the extra steps needed so a routine prescription doesn’t turn into a stressful situation at the border.

“My advice is to check the rules for your destination as soon as you book your trip, rather than the night before you travel,” he said.

“That gives you enough time to speak to your GP or pharmacist, get any paperwork sorted, and travel with confidence.”

The UK government warns that people can be fined or even go to prison if they travel with medicine that is illegal in another country. It advises checking with the embassy of the country you’re going to before you travel – you might require a permit or supporting documentation to take your medication in with you.

For example, travellers must get approval in advance from the UAE Ministry of Health to bring medication – applications are generally processed within five working days.

Budd recommends asking your pharmacist for a short covering letter confirming your name, dosage and how much medicine you’re carrying. This, he said, “is often enough to avoid questions at customs, especially for controlled medicines such as codeine, tramadol or diazepam”.

The pharmacist also recommends keeping medicines in their original packaging when travelling, with the pharmacy label attached, as loose tablets in a pill organiser are hard to identify if you’re stopped at customs.

“Make sure to check any countries you’re passing through, not just your final stop,” added the expert. “These rules apply to layovers too, so check the requirements for any country you’ll pass through, even if you’re not leaving the airport.”

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Why The PM Must Be Wary His ‘Burnham Bounce’ Does Not Turn Into A Boomerang

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He’s only two weeks into the job and Andy Burnham has already been hit with his first deadline.

A British commander warned the prime minister on Thursday that he needs to make his defence spending commitments clear by the autumn – or risk losing his support.

General Sir Richard Barrons, who co-authored the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, warned “a much more challenging discussion about what do you really think you’re doing with this government” awaits Burnham if he has not outlined plans by September or October.

His words follow a week where ministers repeatedly refused to commit to the previous target of spending 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2030.

It’s an obstacle which proved fatal to Keir Starmer’s premiership.

John Healey resigned as defence secretary over a lack of spending for his department in June, something which helped to accelerate the former prime minister’s downfall.

By making Healey his chancellor, Burnham has sent clear signals that he will respect demands to hike up the department’s budget.

So why did the new defence secretary, Wes Streeting, only commit to the Nato pledge 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035 – a date which is in the next parliament – this week?

He told broadcasters that while the government is not “ruling out” the 3% spending commitment by 2030 but added: “It’s really important we set out how it will be paid for.”

While a very reasonable observation – a marker of how the Burnham cabinet is already building a reputation for more transparent communication – worries about defence investment are hardly new.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started more than four years ago and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has been raging since 2023.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, foreground, and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, right
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, foreground, and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, right

via Associated Press

Chair of the defence committee, Labour MP Tan Dhesi, told HuffPost UK that the government “must set out a clear plan for meeting its defence spending targets, with specific milestones and deadlines.”

He said the committee has already called for defence spending to reach 3% of GDP in this parliament.

Dhesi warned: “With the prospect of a Russian attack on a Nato ally before 2030, we cannot afford to delay. Investment in the UK’s defence and security must be accelerated as a matter of urgency.”

There’s also the matter of the “black hole” in the £15 billion defence investment plan (DIP) which Starmer failed to fully cost before he left office.

The Treasury only found £10.3 billion in departmental savings, meaning Burnham will have to find £4.7 billion in his autumn budget.

Even if the DIP were fully-funded, it would only take the UK to 2.7% of GDP from 2027-28.

It’s not just Burnham’s defence policies under scrutiny over potential cost, either.

His policy blitz from the last two weeks has seen him live up to his promise of putting the cost of living at the heart of his government.

The PM has promised to cut VAT from energy bills, a move expected to cost £850m.

The government said this would be funded via the cancelled digital ID programme.

However, former cabinet minister Darren Jones said the tax cut was “unfunded” because there had never been an extra pot of money for digital ID.

Burnham also announced a £500m plan to cap bus fares at £2 from January until the end of 2027 outside of London.

Most of the funding will come from money reserved for climate and energy projects, despite worries about the international impact.

The PM revealed a 20% cut in business rates for pubs and clubs too, which will cost £100m a year.

That will be funded by removing business rates relief from businesses which do not “make a positive contribution” to local communities, though the exact details remain unclear.

Burnham’s daily policy announcements have effectively boosted his support among voters and stopped him from looking like Starmer 2.0.

““It is in that sense that his honeymoon may only last so long, before the reality of governing effectively causes him the same problems it has previous Prime Ministers.””

Labour has overtaken Reform in some polls for the first time in 16 months, with Survation putting Burnham’s party on 26% compared to Nigel Farage’s 24%.

Deltapoll and YouGov put the parties neck-and-neck, while More in Common found Burnham’s approval rating has soared to heights Starmer never reached.

But, as Savanta’s political research director Chris Hopkins warned, this could go into decline when the PM has “actual difficult decisions to make”.

He told HuffPost UK: “Burnham has started well, and his policy blitz, well-received by commentators, will begin to trickle down to the public.

“At this stage, though, the bounce is more likely to be less about Burnham the man and more about what he is trying to represent – a break from ‘politics as normal’.”

But he noted: “Where this has the potential to fall down is when he has actual difficult decisions to make.

“He’s already discussed using up his political capital to reform social care, something that has made PMs before him, namely Theresa May, come unstuck with the electorate.

“There is a danger that his popularity will fall, and fall quickly, as soon as he tries to address the challenges his predecessors failed to.

“It is in that sense that his honeymoon may only last so long, before the reality of governing effectively causes him the same problems it has previous prime ministers.”

More in Common’s Louis O’Geran offered a similar warning that his time in the sun might not last very long.

The external affairs manager told HuffPost UK: “There’s no doubt that changing leader mid-term has given Labour and the new PM breathing space.

“After a couple of weeks of popular announcements, Labour’s standing in our latest poll has risen to its highest since the early months of Keir Starmer’s government, and Burnham’s own approval rating now surpasses Starmer’s all-time high.

“However, it’s still very early days, and we’ve only seen a small number of polls so far. What these results tell us most of all is how volatile public opinion has become.”

Burnham will most likely be able to enjoy a few weeks of rising in the polls across the summer.

But, when MPs return from recess, parliamentary scrutiny resumes and pressure rises ahead of his first Labour conference as leader, real life will hit for voters as they realise the money has to come from somewhere.

Will Burnham be able to retain his newfound support once the cost of his promises start to come in?

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
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We Should All Be Taking ‘Poop Walks’ – Especially As We Age

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Here’s a fact that never fails to make me feel more connected to my fellow man: at any given time, about one in seven UK adults is struggling with constipation.

It’s believed to affect twice as many women as men (ladies have a longer colon and more variable hormones), and tends to get worse and is more likely to be chronic as we age.

Experts think that change might be partly down to factors like decreased mobility, drinking less water, slower gut transit time, weaker muscles, certain medications, and a higher likelihood of medical conditions that make getting backed up more probable.

Regardless of its cause, though, there’s lots of research to suggest a relatively simple solution: maybe we should all be trying a poop walk.

Er… what?

We’ve written before about “fart walks,” which involve going for a short stroll after a meal. These have been linked to better blood sugar management and even a lower cancer risk.

And research has shown that walking gets our bowels moving a minute or so after we start, helping to relieve constipation, too.

Speaking to HuffPost UK, Julie Thompson, an Information Manager at digestive system charity Guts UK, said: “One of the roles of the large bowel is to absorb water from the gut contents, so the longer poo stays in the large bowel, the drier it becomes.

“Walking stimulates bowel movements because it increases intestinal motility (increases gut muscle contractions) in people with constipation, decreasing the time it takes for the gut contents to move through.”

She added, “Walking regularly can also improve the variety of the gut microbes, compared with those who are less active, which produces health-related benefits for the large bowel and for wider health.”

How can I take a poop walk?

Thompson told us that it can be hard to work out exactly how far or long we should walk to, er, unclog the pipes.

“Research studies use a wide variety of activity in their publications, so it is difficult to be precise about the combined recommendations, plus there is likely to be some individual variation,” she said.

Still, a little may go a long way. A 2025 paper, which included 21 healthy adults, saw great results after a 20-minute treadmill walk, noting that bowel activity increased pretty much as soon as participants got moving.

And other research from this year, which focused on older adults with Parkinson’s disease, found that increasing participants’ steps by 3,000 daily from their usual baseline “significantly improved constipation” after three months.

Thompson told us that you don’t need to be constipated to take advantage of a poop walk – “the best option is to follow the NHS general guidance on activity, which recommends adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week, through a variety of activities including walking.

“If someone is able to walk, but is not active, it is best to increase the distance gradually,” she added.

Even if you’re not constipated, walking can keep you regular

The NHS says on its site that “A daily walk or run can help you poo more regularly”.

Professor Yohei Otaka, author of a study that found a 20-minute walk improved healthy adults’ gut motility, said, “Walking can serve as an effective, immediate tool for stimulating bowel function.

“The findings also point to potential underlying mechanisms, such as changes in autonomic nervous system activity or reflexes triggered by the body’s natural oscillations during movement.”

Aside from its bowel-based benefits, a stroll can “improve cardiovascular health by strengthening the heart, thereby helping circulation, lower[ing] blood pressure, [and] helping in the prevention of heart disease and stroke,” Matthew Nolan, a chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City, previously told HuffPost.

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Is Reducing Protein Key To Better Ageing? A Longevity Expert Weighs In

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Protein is a key nutrient made up of tiny building blocks called amino acids. It provides us with energy, helps the body grow and repair, and is typically found in meat, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts, beans and lentils.

For healthy adults, the recommended daily amount of protein is about 0.75g per kg of body weight, notes the British Heart Foundation, adding that’s about 45g a day for a 60kg woman, and 55g a day for a 75kg man.

The reality is we’re easily consuming that. Helena Gibson-Moore, nutrition scientist for the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), said people in the UK are, on average, “eating more than enough protein”.

Society has become pretty obsessed with protein, evident in the protein-fortified foods popping up everywhere and popularity of protein-rich ‘carnivore’ and ‘boy kibble’ diets touted by influencers on social media.

While protein is good for you, experts have long cautioned that not all protein is created equal. And now, a new study suggests that less – not more – protein could be key to healthy ageing in people who aren’t as active.

“It’s absolutely crystal clear that there are benefits of protein to muscle growth and exercise response of active individuals,” said study author Dudley Lamming, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“But because most people are relatively sedentary, many people are likely consuming more protein than they actually need, which probably has negative health consequences.”

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What did the study reveal?

The review of 350 existing papers on protein restriction and ageing, published in the journal Cell Press Blue, looked into how protein-restricted diets could improve health and promote longevity.

After analysing these studies, researchers suggested cutting protein intake may slow ageing by improving metabolism, changing how cells respond to nutrients, reducing cellular damage, and preserving healthy cell function.

One of the key players believed to be behind this is a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), which can increase the body’s energy expenditure, improve blood sugar control, and reduce inflammation.

Researchers said levels of this hormone rise when protein intake is low. They also pointed to studies in mice, which have shown that animals with higher FGF21 levels lived longer than normal mice.

They also noted that consuming too many of a certain type of amino acid could trigger biological processes that promote growth, increasing the risk of obesity, inflammation, and other age-related diseases.

“These studies show that the amount of protein sedentary people are eating today may have negative health consequences, at least at the population level,” Lamming said.

While some people, like pregnant women and some older adults, have higher protein needs, for most sedentary adults, protein-fortified food may not provide the health benefits people expect, researchers added.

Discussing how athletes manage to consume large amounts of protein without developing metabolic diseases, the experts hypothesised that regular exercise may be protective.

Lamming ended: “We probably need to personalise protein recommendations based not just on age, but also on how physically active people are.”

The protein discussion ‘should consider performance and longevity’

Responding to the findings, Dr Will Hsu, a longevity expert and chief medical officer of L Nutra Health, who wasn’t involved in the review, told HuffPost UK that much of the conversation around protein is focused on physical performance, maintaining muscle, and preventing frailty.

“These are important goals. Protein is essential for supporting recovery, preserving physical function, and maintaining lean mass, particularly in older adults,” he said. “But the protein discussion should consider two objectives at the same time: performance and longevity.”

He stressed that protein and its amino acids “are not simply building materials, they are also biological signals that activate pathways involved in growth, metabolism, and cellular ageing”.

When we’re young, physically active, recovering from illness, or trying to maintain muscle, these pathways are essential.

However, keeping growth pathways continuously activated through a high protein diet “may not be ideal for long term metabolic health, particularly in someone who is relatively sedentary”, he added.

Protein intake should be personalised and plant-forward

Protein’s effects vary depending on many elements – from the amount consumed, to the food source, to your physical activity levels and age.

“The average person should not read this research and immediately start cutting protein,” said Dr Hsu. “A better question is: How much protein do I need, from which foods, at this point in my life?”

He suggested a sedentary adult who already eats plenty of meat, protein bars, shakes, and protein-fortified foods “probably does not need to keep adding more”.

But replacing some animal protein with beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and other plant foods “may create a more favourable amino acid balance, while also providing fibre and other protective nutrients”.

This advice would then change for an older adult at risk of muscle loss, an athlete, someone recovering from illness or surgery, or a person losing weight rapidly, he noted.

“For these individuals, adequate protein and resistance exercise are critical for protecting muscle, bone, strength, and independence. Pregnant women and people who are already underweight or frail should also not restrict protein without professional guidance,” he explained.

“This is why one protein recommendation cannot work for everyone. Two people of the same age may need very different amounts based on their muscle mass, activity level, health, and risk of frailty.”

He ended: “Ultimately, the goal is not maximum protein or minimum protein. It is enough high-quality protein to preserve strength and function, without assuming that more is automatically better.

“For many people, that means shifting toward a more plant-forward pattern and personalising protein intake based on age, activity, metabolic health, and muscle needs.”

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