Thursday briefing: Misinformation, access and cuts – the UK’s measles surge explained

<p>In today’s newsletter: With an alarming rise in cases culminating in the death of a child at Alder Hey hospital last week, urgent solutions to the disease’s resurgence are required.</p><p></p><p>Good morning. Not too long ago, the UK was really good at beating measls. In 2017, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/24/this-is-urgent-the-uk-is-scrambling-to-stem-an-alarming-tide-of-measles">the World Health Organisation declared </a>that the the disease had been eliminated for the first time in the UK, after no indigenous cases had been recorded in three years. <br /><br />
Now, measles is back. Already this year there have been more than 500 confirmed cases in England, the majority in young children.</p><p>On Sunday it was announced that a child who contracted measles had died at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/13/parents-urged-to-get-children-vaccinated-after-measles-death-in-liverpool">Liverpool’s Alder Hey hospital</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j1k3k44e2o">which had seen an additional 17 cases since the beginning of June.</a> What makes this case more tragic is that healthcare professionals say no child should lose its life to this disease in the UK. The MMR vaccine, offered to all children in the UK, gives 97% protection against becoming infected with measles, mumps and rubella.</p><p><em><strong>Middle East crisis </strong></em>| At least 20 Palestinians <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/16/palestinians-killed-food-distribution-site-gaza">have been killed</a> in a crush at a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, after guards used teargas or pepper spray on hungry crowds arriving at the centre.</p><p><em><strong>UK politics </strong></em>| Conservative former ministers have “serious questions to answer” over the secret scheme to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/16/serious-questions-to-answer-over-afghan-data-breach-says-keir-starmer">resettle Afghan nationals</a> named in a data breach under the previous government, Keir Starmer has said.</p><p><em><strong>Labour </strong></em>| Four Labour MPs have had the whip removed for repeatedly breaching discipline, with three others demoted, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/16/keir-starmer-to-remove-labour-whip-from-at-least-three-persistent-rebel-mps">in an effort to assert control</a> over the party. The Guardian understands that the four are Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff.</p><p><em><strong>US politics </strong></em>| Donald Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/16/donald-trump-dismisses-inquiry-into-jeffrey-epstein-as-boring">has dismissed a secretive inquiry</a> into the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as “boring” and of interest only to “bad people”, but said he backed the release of any “credible” files.</p><p><em><strong>UK news </strong></em>| The Prevent anti-terrorism scheme missed chances to protect the public from the attacker who assassinated the MP Sir David Amess, and from the youth who murdered three young girls at a Southport dance class, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/16/prevent-anti-terrorism-missed-chances-amess-southport-killers-report">an official report has found</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/17/thursday-briefing-misinformation-access-and-cuts-the-uks-measles-surge-explained">Continue reading...</a>