Editor's note

Amber Rudd has left an unenviable to-do list for her successor Sajid Javid as he takes on what is, at the best of times, a difficult ministerial portfolio. And with fundamental questions still unanswered about what is happening to the Windrush generation, the new home secretary will have to hit the ground running. But if he can pull it off, the political rewards could be significant.

After years of investigations, the EU has finally banned the neonicotinoid pesticides linked to bee decline. But it took years to convince lawmakers because many scientific studies failed to show the chemicals were causing harm. It took a statistical method known as meta-analysis to finally demonstrate strong evidence for the link. Julia Koricheva explains how this technique has come to have a major impact on our lives because it can reveal otherwise invisible conclusions.

France has responded to the rise in meat alternatives by banning descriptors like “soy sausage” or “bacon-flavoured strips”. Apparently they are misleading – even though the whole point of these products is that they are vegetarian or vegan. Malte Rödl, who is conducting PhD research on this topic, highlights the role of the meat industry in the move.

Laura Hood

Politics Editor, Assistant Editor

Top stories

EPA/Andy Rain

Sajid Javid, Amber Rudd and the trouble with heading the Home Office

Robin Pettitt, Kingston University

Theresa May lasted a long time, but this department chews up secretaries of state like no other.

Shutterstock

Neonicotinoid ban: how meta-analysis helped show pesticides do harm bees

Julia Koricheva, Royal Holloway

Meta-analysis studies have made it possible to sort through apparently contradictory research by looking at the bigger picture.

Pas un ‘burger’. shutterstock.com

Why France banned meat names for vegetarian alternatives

Malte B. Rödl, University of Manchester

With demand for meat alternatives growing, the meat industry is getting protective over names such as 'vegetarian sausages'.

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