PE funding and the true cost of obesity | Letter

The possible cuts to Whitehall’s physical education funding left one misty-eyed for that jargonistic catchphrase of the Blair era: joined-up government (Government row breaks out over plan to cut spending for PE in England’s schools, 27 January).Coincidentally, your story appeared hours after the NHS published data from its Health Survey England. Inevitably, the 2024 data revealed another rise in the percentage of adults in England who were obese or overweight – reaching 66%, compared with 53% in 1993. About 30% of adults were obese. The survey again illustrated the links between deprivation, obesity and ill-health

Pentagon threatens to cut ties with Scouting America over ‘core values’

The Pentagon is again threatening to sever ties with Scouting America unless the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America reverts to “core values” and realigns itself with service to “God and country”.A warning to end the US military’s longstanding partnership with one of the nation’s largest and most popular youth organizations came in a Monday night post to social media by the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who insisted the scouting movement “lost its way” in a 2025 rebrand that promoted inclusivity and included admitting girls and LBGTQ+ members.Donald Trump’s defense department under its head, Pete Hegseth, has previously railed against being “woke” in the US military, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and suggested that women lack the physical strength to be effective combat troops.Hegseth first proposed withdrawing government support for the scouting movement in a memo to Congress in November. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a separate draft memo outlining the plan has been circulating in recent days

Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledges

Three in four cancer patients in England will beat cancer under government plans to raise survival rates, as figures reveal someone is now diagnosed every 75 seconds in the UK.Cancer is the country’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths, and survival rates lag behind several European countries, including Romania and Poland. Three-quarters of NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, a Guardian analysis found last year, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.In a new plan to be published on Wednesday, ministers will pledge £2bn to resolve the crisis by transforming cancer services, with millions of patients promised faster diagnoses, quicker treatment and more support to live well.Some cancer performance targets have not been met by the NHS since 2015

Cost of UK’s drug price deal with US will come out of NHS budget

The cost of the government’s drug pricing deal with the Trump administration will come out of the NHS budget instead of the Treasury’s and could eventually reach £9bn a year, campaigners fear.Patrick Vallance, the science minister, has confirmed that the costs – initially an extra £1bn over three years– will be borne by the Department of Health and Social Care, which funds the NHS in England, and not the Treasury.His admission, in a letter to the Commons science, innovation and technology committee, is the first time the government has specified which Whitehall department would foot the bill.It comes amid growing concern among Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Scottish National party MPs that ministers have been evasive about the costs involved and risk that the NHS may have to cut services in order to pay the 25% higher prices for new drugs that ministers agreed to.The £1bn is the estimated extra cost for the first three years of the 10-year deal the government announced on 1 December

Ministers to crack down on profiteering in care sector and make renewed fostering push

Private providers of child social care in England will be pushed out of the system if they are found to be profiteering, the children’s minister has said.Josh MacAlister, who is in charge of overhauling the care system for children, also called for a fostering equivalent of the Homes for Ukraine scheme to provide homes for tens of thousands of children.Announcing a major push to find homes for 10,000 foster children as part of a bid to rebalance child social care away from private providers, MacAlister said the state was “failing to provide the lifelong, loving relationships that these kids need”.MacAlister led an independent review of child social care under the last Tory government before becoming an MP and then minister. He said his message to private providers was: “If you want to be part of this system in the future, don’t price-gouge; don’t profiteer

Council and community could join up on housing | Letters

John Harris is absolutely right to draw attention to the tragic lack of council housing provision in the UK, and his visit to the new homes at Rainbow Way in Minehead, Somerset, is a welcome reminder that building genuinely affordable, secure homes is both possible and transformational for people’s lives (In Somerset, I found glorious proof that England can build great council houses. So what is holding us back?, 25 January). The emotional testimony from residents who now have stability and dignity in their housing reinforces how urgently we need similar projects across the country.However, my own experience working on the East Quay project in the adjacent town of Watchet reinforced another uncomfortable truth: local authorities do not always have the will or imagination to take the initiative and improve things for their residents.In Watchet, it was not the local council that led progressive change, but a remarkable community group, the Onion Collective