Exclusive: ADHD UK may seek judicial review of West Yorkshire NHS integrated care board’s ‘unlawful’ policy

ADHD UK has threatened legal action against an NHS organisation over its decision to impose a minimum two-year wait for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism assessments.

In a legal letter to West Yorkshire NHS integrated care board (ICB), seen by the Guardian, the charity alleges that the decision to force patients to wait at least two years for such assessments was unlawful and says it will seek a judicial review if the board fails to reverse the policy.

In today’s newsletter: Reversible male hormonal contraception could reach the market within five to 10 years. But why has this development been so slow?

Good morning. Since the first vasectomy was performed in the 1890s (imagine being that volunteer), the male contraceptive armoury has barely advanced. The last reversible method was added to this repertoire centuries ago: while rubber condoms hit the mass market in the 1850s, earlier versions date back beyond ancient Egypt.

This looks on the cusp of change. In a landmark announcement last week, the World Health Organization said it expects reversible male contraceptives to be available on the market within five to 10 years.

Politics | Senior Downing Street officials have been reaching out to thinktanks and pollsters as they look to test public support for the UK rejoining the EU.

Middle East | One of the pilots of a plane flying from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to try to crash the aircraft, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, as Israeli officials said they were investigating whether the incident was an attempted terror attack on Israelis.

UK news | There are “strong indications” that Iran played a role in events in which five men were arrested near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire as part of a terror investigation, Andy Burnham has said.

Immigration and asylum | The UK government’s “one in one out” deal with France, which was supposed to help deter small boat arrivals, is expected to expire on Thursday, as talks stall over French demands for an EU-wide scheme.

Television | Esther Rantzen, the Bafta-winning TV presenter and founder of Childline, has died aged 86. In a statement, her family paid tribute to “the most wonderful mother” and “cherished grandmother”.

Measles outbreak in the state has now reached 39 counties, with 943 confirmed cases and 176 hospitalizations

Pennsylvania has reported its fifth measles-associated death of 2026 as the state’s ongoing outbreak climbs to 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties.

The Pennsylvania department of health said on Wednesday that an unvaccinated Lancaster county resident who tested positive for measles had died. Health officials did not release further information about the individual, citing privacy protections.

Readers respond to the Labour leader’s conference speech and plans for changes to social care and the state pension triple lock

In the aftermath of Andy Burnham’s speech to the Labour conference, media discussions are focusing on how to define social care and estimate its cost (How will Burnham’s national care service work – and how will it be funded?, 29 September).

Most arguments assume that any new system will look like the existing one, with services outsourced to large companies, using contracts without scope for innovation, with rigidly defined targets, often delivered using poorly rewarded, precariously employed migrant workers.

Exclusive: Campaign comes amid backlash against tech company’s involvement with Israeli military and Trump’s ICE crackdown

• UK politics live – latest updates

Tens of thousands of people have formally demanded NHS England blocks the Palantir-powered national medical data platform from handling their personal information.

More than 44,000 people have filed legal objections to their health data being shared with, stored in or used by the nationwide Federated Data Platform (FDP) operated using the US company’s AI technology.

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• ‘Oozing everyman charm’: what the papers said about Burnham’s speech

Andy Burnham has suggested that it would not be legitimate for a party to form a majority government with less than 30% of the vote.

In his Today interview, asked why he wanted electoral reform and a move towards proportional representation, Burnham replied:

I found it better being elected under a different system as mayor of Greater Manchester, where people had one or two, they could put that on the ballot paper.

Because you had a reason to stop on every doorstep and chat to people who might not always support your party and try and get their second preference.

No, it could happen with any political party. It’s whether that would be a legitimate government.

I think you’ve got it completely wrong really, if you don’t mind me saying, to put it like that, because I have put out … a vision for a national care service.

There are pensioners out there who watch your programme who are paying for care costs from their basic state pension. Now, is that right or fair?

Cross-partisan support in Washington on issues like pesticides and food additives pose a threat to the industry’s bottom line

Some of the biggest food and agriculture corporations in the US are funding a campaign that pays social media influencers to combat elements of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again platform, according to an investigation by the Guardian and Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project.

The ascension of RFK Jr to secretary of health and human services has boosted his putative campaign to end chronic illness in the US, which he believes is primarily caused by processed foods and dyes, exposure to certain chemicals, and poor farming practices, along with an overuse of what he falsely claims are dangerous vaccines. The “Maha” movement blends long-running mainstream concerns about food and farm safety with conspiracy theories about everything from medicine to milk. A Maha “summit” in Washington this week will feature JD Vance and several members of Trump’s cabinet.

Many products aimed at women over 45 lack meaningful quantities of key nutrients, consumer watchdog Which? found

Menopause supplements costing more than £400 a year are no better than a £22-a-year multivitamin, according to analysis by the consumer watchdog Which?.

Which? found that many popular supplements that are aimed at women over 45 going through menopause or perimenopause lack meaningful quantities of key nutrients, yet cost 20 times more than standard multivitamins.

A bad breakup had made me afraid I would be mired in anger for ever. But on that family hike, in our fear and horror as we awaited the air ambulance, my old hurts took on a different hue

To steal a well-known line, 2023 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. My annus horribilis began when a long-term relationship broke up in January, only six months after we had bought our first home together. I was about to turn 38 and the future I thought was mine – marriage, children – all fell apart. What followed was blow after blow: my sister announced her engagement, I was told by a fertility doctor that I was “not a suitable candidate” for egg freezing, and I soon began having multiple panic attacks a day.

Ordinarily, my work would have been my solace; when I wrote, it was as if time was suspended. But now, my words abandoned me. They would not come, no matter how much I tried. So, in April, I decided to take the rest of the year off to recover. As I was self-employed, this was not a choice I made lightly – but my heart was broken and so too, it seemed, was my brain.