What makes this initiative different is that it’s a prescribable podcast. Through Gloucestershire’s NHS social prescribing network, GPs can prescribe tickets to patients -turning conversation itself into a creative health intervention. NHS clinicians will also be available at each event.

Tomorrow, I’m hosting the first in a new podcast series focused on men’s health and wellbeing—looking at new, creative ways to get men talking and accessing support.

Suicide remains one of the biggest killers of men under 50. We must talk about this, and we must do more.

This morning we launched a new Men’s Health Strategy. Key measures announced include:

🞗 £3.6m over three years for suicide prevention projects
🞗 At-home blood test kits for prostate cancer
🞗 £3m for community-based men’s health schemes
🞗 Support for former miners dealing with respiratory conditions

Many young people are offered antidepressants at their 1st appointment (against NICE guidelines) when it isn’t always the right path. Getting involved in community and in creativity can make a huge difference. We need to invest in hubs like The Music Works and expand social prescribing options.

That's why I came into politics, it's why I'm a Labour MP and it's why we elected our Labour government last year. (6/6)

Failing to deliver there is what leads to people looking for scapegoats and being persuaded by the dangerous rhetoric of those who don't care about equality or improving the life chances of ordinary working people. (5/6)

And over all this, our focus needs to be tackling inequality: housing, the economy, education, health and all those other areas where we know that we can make a real difference to people's lives. (4/6)

Measures that create bureaucracy and insecurity do not offer clarity or strengthen control - they cost money, waste time and weaken the system. We should push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it. (3/6)

We need faster decisions, a relationship with the French authorities that works and better accommodation. In other words, a fair and workable approach that offers certainty, treats people with dignity and reflects our humanity. (2/6)