Martin McKee

@martinmckee.bsky.social

12K followers 680 following 1.4K posts

Prof of European Public Health LSHTM
Co-Director European Observatory on Health Systems & Policy
Member Independent SAGE
Past President BMA & EUPHA
Committed to 🇬🇧 rejoining 🇪🇺

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/mckee.martin .. more

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Clifford Martin McKee, CBE, is professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Source: Wikipedia

Public Health 40%

Medicine 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Martin McKee

Gavin Esler @gavinesler.bsky.social · 2h

When whatever happens at the top of the Labour Party finally happens and given the sorry mess that British politics has been for years, is it maybe time to fix a broken system? Get rid of the “two party politics” delusion? Embrace PR? It’s apparently good enough for Scotland, Wales and N Ireland.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2h

Thanks!

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2h

bsky.app/profile/mart...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3h

We @obshealth.bsky.social will no longer post on the other place. We cannot support its racism, misogyny, and hatred.
For evidence for health policy in Europe you can find us here and on LinkedIn

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3h

We @obshealth.bsky.social will no longer post on the other place. We cannot support its racism, misogyny, and hatred.
For evidence for health policy in Europe you can find us here and on LinkedIn

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5h

So true. And by acting as agents of (often dysfunctional and corrupt) states, we undermine our legitimacy with the public. Once again, we should look to Virchow: "the physician is the natural attorney of the poor,"

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5h

4/ You can read the full paper here: academic.oup.com/eurpub/advan...

Universal duties in a fragmented world: why Europe must reclaim Kantian ethics for global health governance

Long-standing norms that have safeguarded global health are being discarded, threatening the foundations of cooperation and equity on which health security

academic.oup.com

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5h

3/ Europe learned, at unimaginable cost, what happens when universal norms collapse. That history gives us a duty now: defend multilateralism, defend human dignity, and call out governments that put power before people. Silence is complicity.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5h

2/ We look to a European philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Kant reminds us: if policies can’t be universalised, they’re immoral. Hoarding vaccines, ignoring treaties, and treating people as tools of foreign policy isn’t just unethical, it destroys the very cooperation pandemics demand.

Reposted by Michelle Kelly‐Irving

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5h

🧵1/ Global health is under attack, and not just by pathogens. Governments are walking away from international law, blocking humanitarian access, and even targeting health workers. We need a principled response, which @tiagocorreia.bsky.social & I set out in an editorial in Eur J Public Health

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 17h

Brava Italia. Una cerimonia di apertura olimpica davvero fantastica!
🇮🇹

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

Agree - I was reflecting on how things seem to work, not how they should. As I think you know, I feel that British politics are completely broken, and it’s likely to get a lot worse.

academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/a...

Brexit is just a symptom: the constitutional weaknesses it reveals have serious consequences for health

Abstract. Brexit has direct and indirect negative health consequences, whether from economic damage or from the political paralysis and distraction from pu

academic.oup.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

Kudos to @jdmunday.bsky.social & other authors of this really elegant study of viral transmission in schools. 👇
Indoor air quality is very important, something we on @independentsage.bsky.social argued strongly during pandemic. Ventilation matters.

James Munday @jdmunday.bsky.social · 2d

Our paper modelling transmission risk in schools is published in Nature Communications. **The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools** doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

5/ Each understood that control of message and discipline of the machine matter more than ideology alone. Both show that British politics often turns not on speechmakers, but on the operators who decide who speaks, and how.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

4/ Bracken was Churchill’s fixer and media strategist in wartime; McSweeney has been Starmer’s enforcer and architect of Labour’s organisational reset.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

3/ Neither fits the classic mould of a charismatic front-stage politician. Their real influence lay behind the scenes, shaping leaders rather than seeking applause.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

2/ Both were Irish-born outsiders who rose to the very centre of British political power, not by rhetoric, but by organisation, loyalty, and strategic nous.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

🧵1/ I’m not 1st to note parallel (I think @samfr.bsky.social was) but while Morgan McSweeney and Brendan Bracken are a century apart, there are striking parallels in how they wield power in British politics.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

Me too

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

5/ Each understood that control of message and discipline of the machine matter more than ideology alone.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

4/ Bracken was Churchill’s fixer and media strategist in wartime; McSweeney has been Starmer’s enforcer and architect of Labour’s organisational reset.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

3/ Neither fits the classic mould of a charismatic front-stage politician. Their real influence lay behind the scenes, shaping leaders rather than seeking applause.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

2/ Both were Irish-born outsiders who rose to the very centre of British political power, not by rhetoric, but by organisation, loyalty, and strategic nous.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

The problem with following @davidallengreen.bsky.social is that some phrases start to act as triggers, like “For the avoidance of doubt”, which admittedly only occurs once in this ISC letter

Andrew Defty @adefty.bsky.social · 1d

The ISC has published its letter to the PM regarding how it will handle the Mandelson papers. It is a carefully worded and fascinating document not least because the ISC has a statutory relationship with the executive but has unusually been asked to carry out a job by Parliament.

Reposted by Martin McKee

Andrew Defty @adefty.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Martin McKee, John R. Hutchinson, Steve Peers , and 4 more Martin McKee, John R. Hutchinson, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks, Tom Griffin, Stephen Ryan, Pauline Stafford

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 2d

Nigel Farage tells GB News that Keir Starmer's decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador shows his judgement is "seriously wrong" and he should stand down as Prime Minister.

Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed

Reposted by Martin McKee, Elizabeth Stokoe, Tuomas Mattila , and 3 more Martin McKee, Elizabeth Stokoe, Tuomas Mattila, Devon Greyson, Julia M. Wright, Christina Pagel

James Munday @jdmunday.bsky.social · 2d

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

Populist politics threatens progress in women's health in Europe. Our warning, with colleagues from @cbigscreen.bsky.social in @lefigaro.fr
sante.lefigaro.fr/social/sante...

Populisme, défiance et rigueur budgétaire : la santé des femmes, un enjeu démocratique menacé

TRIBUNE - Le cancer du col de l’utérus illustre les inégalités en santé qui menacent les femmes en Europe. De véritables progrès sont possibles, mais ils restent fragiles.

sante.lefigaro.fr

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

See also superb piece making case for valuing migrants in NY Times

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

There are many questions about Mandelson’s appointment as US Ambassador but, for me, the most important is whether the Trump administration exerted any influence. Meanwhile, Conservatives ask why vetting didn’t check with US DoJ. Assume they expect U.K. to check with KGB on next ambassador to Moscow

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

Only a little… why not append the actual deal to the letter?

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