Hannah Barnes

1 week ago | newstatesman.com | Hannah Barnes

It emerged last week that the health secretary was “actively reviewing” whether to restrict or ban the prescription of cross-sex hormones to children who want to transition to another gender. On 28 April, a group of clinical specialists was established to explore the issue, including NHS England specialist commissioners and paediatric endocrinologists, some of whom prescribed the drugs to children attending the now closed Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock clinic.

2 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Hannah Barnes

Walk through the entrance of  Discovery Primary School in Greenwich, south-east London, down a corridor and through a set of doors, and the building bursts with light. The sun shines through two giant skylights. Children’s work adorns the walls; flags representing different countries hang overhead. But enter a Year 6 classroom – for pupils aged ten and 11 – and you start to get a sense of what schools are contending with today.

2 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Hannah Barnes

My dad messaged me yesterday morning, a little after 8am. “How do we,” he asked, “as reasonable, caring, intelligent Jews – who totally support the principle of Israel as the only Jewish state in the world – find a way to condemn Netanyahu and his supporters and show our revulsion at the senseless slaughter, in a way that makes a difference?” A big question to start the day.

4 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Hannah Barnes

Giving birth in England is not safe. Half of all maternity units are rated either inadequate or requiring improvement. Just 5 per cent – one in 20 – are outstanding. The UK is performing worse than many of our European neighbours when it comes to deaths of mothers within 42 days of the end of pregnancy. And gross inequalities remain: black women are twice as likely to die in childbirth than white women; women aged 35 or older are three time more likely to die than those in their early twenties.

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Hannah Barnes

When it comes to candidates for most blatant attempt to bury bad news, the government’s release of its impact assessment of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is right up there. Releasing the publication at 4pm on the Friday before a Bank Holiday weekend, when the nation’s media is preoccupied by the most exciting set of local election results in decades and a seismic shift in UK politics, takes some beating.