Elite–mass agreement in British foreign policy

Thirty years ago, William Wallace likened British foreign policy to a musical tug-of-war between the ‘Anglo-Saxons’ and ‘Europeans’, attributing ‘all the best tunes’ to the former. This article revisits Wallace's thesis and its main concept: national identity. It finds that Wallace was right to draw attention to the power of the ruling elite to shape Englishness and Britishness. However, the article also finds that ‘global’ foreign policy ideas were never the exclusive province of a segment of the British elite. Rather, they circulated in English and more broadly British society writ large, reflecting and reinforcing deep-seated, even unselfconscious, agreements between both ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and ‘European’ elites on the one hand, and much of the mass consumer public on the other. It follows that the constraints posed on possibilities of foreign policy change were always greater than Wallace had suggested; that a ‘lesser’ British foreign policy that was, and still is, so hard to imagine for the British is significant for analysis of dynamics of ‘western’ knowledge production that come under critique in this special issue. But rather than focusing exclusively on elites, critical analyses of knowledge exchange should be attuned to popular common sense, too.

UK Joint Advisory Group consensus statements for training and certification in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography

Background and study aims Despite the high-risk nature of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a robust and standardized credentialing process to ensure competency before independent practice is lacking worldwide. On behalf of the Joint Advisory Group (JAG), we aimed to develop evidence-based recommendations to form the framework of ERCP training and certification in the UK. Methods Under the oversight of the JAG, a modified Delphi process was conducted with stakeholder representation from the British Society of Gastroenterology, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, trainees and trainers. Recommendations on ERCP training and certification were formulated after formal literature review and appraised using the GRADE tool. These were subjected to electronic voting to achieve consensus. Accepted statements were peer-reviewed by JAG and relevant Specialist Advisory Committees before incorporation into the ERCP certification pathway. Results In total, 27 recommendation statements were generated for the following domains: definition of competence (9 statements), acquisition of competence (8 statements), assessment of competence (6 statements) and post-certification support (4 statements). The consensus process led to the following criteria for ERCP certification: 1) performing ≥ 300 hands-on procedures; 2) attending a JAG-accredited ERCP skills course; 3) in modified Schutz 1–2 procedures: achieving native papilla cannulation rate ≥80%, complete bile duct clearance ≥ 70 %, successful stenting of distal biliary strictures ≥ 75 %, physically unassisted in ≥ 80 % of cases; 4) 30-day post-ERCP pancreatitis rates ≤5 %; and 5) satisfactory performance in formative and summative direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) assessments. Conclusions JAG certification in ERCP has been developed following evidence-based consensus to quality assure training and to ultimately improve future standards of ERCP practice.

Semiophores in Multimodal Communication: Verbal and Visual Representation of Cultural Values. Soviet and British Candy Wrappers of the Latter Half of the 20th Century as a Case Study

The article considers complex semiophore analysis of Soviet and British candy wrappers representing social and cultural development of Soviet and British society in a certain period of time. Examination of non-trivial research material, definition of the term semiophore and the development of a complex method of semiophore analysis make the presented research relevant. Semiophores are indicated by the authors as derivative multimodal semiotic objects that represent historical, political and cultural identity in different ways. The authors have examined 53 candy wrappers, among which 30 candy wrappers are of a Soviet and 23 ones are of a British origin. All of them were produced in late 20th century. Candy wrappers being semiophores are considered as a complex of associated, functional, pragmatic, logical and semantic connections. This causes a necessity to develop a complex methodology of semiophores analysis. As a result, a complex method of semiophore analysis has been elaborated. The method has been applied in research of Soviet and British candy wrappers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The authors have concluded that in most cases the verbal and visual components that form the structure of a candy wrapper correspond to each other and actualize the image presented on it. All images presented on the Soviet wrappers can be thematically divided into various groups, for example, some candy wrappers represent crucial historical events, literary characters, cultural phenomena and architectural objects of Russian cities. In general, the images presented on the Soviet candy wrappers perform an educational function, contribute to the formation of cultural, national, political identity and self-identity of Russians. British candy wrappers are characterized by a simple design and usually present the name and look of the product. At the same time, the name of a product has a clear structure and informs the consumer about the manufacturer and the content of the product. Unlike the Soviet candy wrappers, the British candy wrappers were found to be primarily aimed at providing product information and advertising the product. The authors are eager to apply the developed complex methodology to the analysis of other types of semiophores in their further research.

Widma dawnych wartości. Kryzysy ekonomiczne w filmach o nawiedzonych domach

British and American cinema used a haunted house motif to tell a story about a family in a time of economic crisis. Most of the movies mentioned in the article are found on a similar pattern: not wealthy family is buying or renting a big house; they believe that this is their future dream place, so they spend their last money on house repairs. Though they are broke, they continue to live on their „American dream”. Neoliberal myths instruct them that in American or British society there’s no place for economic losers. By this time house is reviling the symptoms of being haunted by the demons and along with the paranormal phenomena wife, husband and their children are starting to show their demons (they are extremely violent and stressed). Economic problems are linked with interpersonal family drama and the decay of social relations. Haunted house horrors are showing that the only remedy for their problems they can find in the past. Film characters from movies such as Burnt Offerings and The Amityville Horror believe that conservatism and old values are going to help their situation. In the end, it turns out that, this symbolic return to the past is just another form of ideological oppression.

Are We In This Together?: The Polarisation of the British Society and the Marginalisation of Otherness in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet

Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet—Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer—was written and published at lightning speed, between the 2016 Brexit referendum and Britain’s effective departure from the EU in 2020. The article examines how the novels engage with the issue of Brexit, as they become the chronicle of a grinding cultural process and critically confront the transformation of the British nation. I survey various psychological factors related to the polarisation of the British nation and investigate Smith’s presentation of the way in which the populist propaganda of menace produced by the right-wing media leads to marginalising Otherness. Employing the nomadic theory of the subject developed by Rosi Braidotti, I analyse Smith’s literary strategies used to represent not only post-truth manipulation and institutionalised British xenophobia, but also the actions of people who resist them.

UK-wide study of the opinions of gastroenterology trainees: COVID-19, Shape of Training and the future workforce

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted training. Gastroenterology higher specialty training is soon to be reduced from 5 years to 4. The British Society of Gastroenterology Trainees Section biennial survey aims to delineate the impact of COVID-19 on training and the opinions on changes to training.MethodsAn electronic survey allowing for anonymised responses at the point of completion was distributed to all gastroenterology trainees from September to November 2020.ResultsDuring the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 71.0% of the respondents stated that more than 50% of their clinical time was mostly within general internal medicine. Trainees reported a significant impact on all aspects of their gastroenterology training due to lost training opportunities and increasing service commitments. During the first wave, 88.5% of the respondents reported no access to endoscopy training lists. Since this time, 66.2% of the respondents stated that their endoscopy training lists had restarted. This has resulted in fewer respondents achieving endoscopy accreditation. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused 42.2% of the respondents to consider extending their training to obtain the skills required to complete training. Furthermore, 10.0% of the respondents reported concerns of a delay to completion of training. The majority of respondents (84.2%) reported that they would not feel ready to be a consultant after 4 years of training.ConclusionsReductions in all aspects of gastroenterology training were reported. This is mirrored in anticipated concerns about completion of training in a shorter training programme as proposed in the new curriculum. Work is now required to ensure training is restored following the pandemic.

Opportunities and Principles of Using Digitalization in the Dialogue of Society and the Public Authorities in the UK on the Example of the Greater London Authority

The UK is one of the leaders in the use of digital tools in the interaction of government institutions and citizens. Now we are witnessing an active dialogue between various British institutions precisely in the digital dimension, as the transfer of data on vaccinations and hospitalizations from hospitals to other structures is carried out thanks to blockchain technologies. Of course, the explosion of interest in the use of digital events was provided by the coronavirus. However, it provided not only an increase in the importance of «numbers» in British society, but also greatly contributed to the disunity of citizens, especially in the context of access to the Internet infrastructure. To this day, this very task remains the main one in the respective strategies. At the same time, individual cities and regions of the country are more actively solving the task. London and the activities of the mayor’s office should be pointed out as the most illustrative example. For the services of the mayor’s office, it was necessary to ensure the transparency of the decisions made, to form and strengthen the trust of citizens. As part of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that for the most part, these tasks can be considered completed. The purpose of this article is basing on an analysis of specific digital tools and examples of the implementation of digital strategies for 2017 and 2021 to identify how a particular metropolis has formed permanent channels of communication and interaction between decision-making institutions and citizens.

Climate-conscious GI nursing

Penny Harrison highlights ideas from a British Society of Gastroenterology conference on what gastrointestinal services can do to mitigate health impacts of climate change