Cllr Sam Corcoran

The 2024 Cheshire East Council annual report by the Director of Public Health titled ‘the commercial determinants of health’ stated that 5 industries are responsible for more than half of all global deaths. The 5 industries are food, tobacco, alcohol, gambling and fossil fuel

His Majesty The King has sent a message of congratulations to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on the first anniversary of his election, reflecting upon the enduring ties between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. 🇬🇧🇻🇦

We joined partners in visiting Hammamat al Maleh in the Jordan Valley, following the destruction of a donor-funded school, hearing directly from affected communities about rising violence and displacement. Joint statement ⬇️

Tomorrow will be one year since the election of Pope Leo XIV. Our Director of Advocacy, Neil Thorns, reflects on the first 365 days and their impact.

Today we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, sponsored by UNESCO. Unfortunately, this right is often violated, sometimes flagrantly, sometimes in hidden ways. Let us remember the many journalists and reporters who are victims of war and violence.

It is nice to be back in Oxford. This is the view from my room in Wolfson College.

Next week is Hedgehog Awareness Week. You can help hedgehogs by leaving a gap of hole in a fence, avoiding leaving nets on the ground and leaving log piles and leaf piles in a wild space in your garden to provide food and shelter for a hedgehog. britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club have finished their season with a win, achieving the target of ending the season with zero points #Tables" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">bbc.co.uk/sport/football…

.@WHO has supported the establishment of a new primary health care clinic in northern Gaza, where extremely limited health services have left most of the community without access to care. The clinic brings services directly to where communities are living. It will deliver essential health services, including noncommunicable disease management, maternal and child health services, routine vaccination, wound care, and basic physical rehabilitation, alongside referrals for cases requiring higher-level care. Health needs across Gaza remain immense. To move beyond immediate lifesaving response and begin restoring health services at scale, @WHO calls for the protection of health care, essential medicines and supplies to be allowed into Gaza without delay, removal of bureaucratic barriers and access restrictions on globally recognised essential medicines, expedited entry of spare parts for medical equipment and generators.

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of May is that everyone might have food. In a video released on X, the Holy Father asked the faithful, “What do you feel about 318 million people experiencing acute hunger every day?” “We need to act, but without prayer we will remain powerless,” he said. “This May, I invite you to join me in prayer that we may seriously commit to avoiding food waste and to ensuring that everyone has access to quality food every day.” In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention. Here is the pope’s full prayer: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amén. Lord of creation, You gave us the fertile earth and, with it, our daily bread, as a sign of Your love and providence. Today we recognize with sorrow that millions of brothers and sisters continue to suffer from hunger, while so many goods are wasted at our tables. Awaken in us a new awareness: that we learn to thank for every food, to consume simply, to share with joy, and to care for the fruits of the earth as a gift from You, destined for all, not just a few. Good Father, make us capable of transforming the logic of selfish consumption into a culture of solidarity. May our communities promote concrete gestures: awareness campaigns, food banks, and a sober and responsible lifestyle. You who sent us Your beloved Son Jesus, broken bread for the life of the world, give us a new heart, hungry for justice and thirsty for fraternity. May no one be excluded from the common table, and may Your Spirit teach us to see bread not as an object of consumption, but as a sign of communion and care. Amen. “Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.

According to media reports, Israel intercepted an aid flotilla bound for Gaza near Greece and detained 175 activists. Israel’s interception of yet another aid flotilla is not security. It’s the detention of people trying to relieve the extreme suffering caused by Israel’s unlawful blockade of Gaza. apnews.com/article/gaza-i…

Appalled by recent settler violence and terror in #AlMughayyir, including the killing of a 14-year-old student. Schools must be protected spaces. Today, we joined a solidarity visit to Al-Mughayyir, organised by the Ministry of Education, to support the continuity of education👇

Relatively little attention outside Israel given to the expose by the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz that another ship carrying grain stolen by Russia from occupied Ukraine arrived in Israel last Sunday. The EU is considering sanctioning the people involved.

It’s been a really good day at the New Statesman climate change conference #NSEnergy

@metecoban92 Mete Coban MBE Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy speaking at #nsenergy conference says that London has 3,000 electric buses - aiming for 100 % by 2030. C40 cities moving 5x faster than national averages in reducing emissions

Mete Coban MBE Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy speaking at #nsenergy conference says that London is the biggest green economy in the world

Bobbie Upton from IFS says that protecting everyone from energy shocks reduces the incentive to insulate homes and move away from fossil fuels.

At #nsenergy conference LibDem MP Pippa Heylings claims that Liz Truss spent £22bn on blanket energy cost support without doing anything to prepare the country for the next energy shock. Alistair Strathern MP says Labour has TARGETED intervention to help the most vulnerable.

A good discussion on nature at the New Statesman Energy and Climate Change Conference #NSEnergy

At #NSEnergy conference Martin McCluskey MP Minister for Energy Consumers said that when he took office there was 98.8% non-compliance with the Tory eco scheme standards. The new local authority delivered schemes have much better compliance standards.

At the #NSEnergy conference Daisy Powell-Chandler of Public First consultancy said that reducing electricity costs should be the top priority. Lower electricity costs would boost the take up of heat pumps.