Here’s a fact that never fails to make me feel more connected to my fellow man: at any given time, about one in seven UK adults is struggling with constipation.

It’s believed to affect twice as many women as men (ladies have a longer colon and more variable hormones), and tends to get worse and is more likely to be chronic as we age.

Experts think that change might be partly down to factors like decreased mobility, drinking less water, slower gut transit time, weaker muscles, certain medications, and a higher likelihood of medical conditions that make getting backed up more probable.

Regardless of its cause, though, there’s lots of research to suggest a relatively simple solution: maybe we should all be trying a poop walk.

We’ve written before about “fart walks,” which involve going for a short stroll after a meal. These have been linked to better blood sugar management and even a lower cancer risk.

And research has shown that walking gets our bowels moving a minute or so after we start, helping to relieve constipation, too.

Speaking to HuffPost UK, Julie Thompson, an Information Manager at digestive system charity Guts UK, said: “One of the roles of the large bowel is to absorb water from the gut contents, so the longer poo stays in the large bowel, the drier it becomes.

“Walking stimulates bowel movements because it increases intestinal motility (increases gut muscle contractions) in people with constipation, decreasing the time it takes for the gut contents to move through.”

She added, “Walking regularly can also improve the variety of the gut microbes, compared with those who are less active, which produces health-related benefits for the large bowel and for wider health.”

Thompson told us that it can be hard to work out exactly how far or long we should walk to, er, unclog the pipes.

“Research studies use a wide variety of activity in their publications, so it is difficult to be precise about the combined recommendations, plus there is likely to be some individual variation,” she said.

Still, a little may go a long way. A 2025 paper, which included 21 healthy adults, saw great results after a 20-minute treadmill walk, noting that bowel activity increased pretty much as soon as participants got moving.

And other research from this year, which focused on older adults with Parkinson’s disease, found that increasing participants’ steps by 3,000 daily from their usual baseline “significantly improved constipation” after three months.

Thompson told us that you don’t need to be constipated to take advantage of a poop walk – “the best option is to follow the NHS general guidance on activity, which recommends adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week, through a variety of activities including walking.

“If someone is able to walk, but is not active, it is best to increase the distance gradually,” she added.

The NHS says on its site that “A daily walk or run can help you poo more regularly”.

Professor Yohei Otaka, author of a study that found a 20-minute walk improved healthy adults’ gut motility, said, “Walking can serve as an effective, immediate tool for stimulating bowel function.

“The findings also point to potential underlying mechanisms, such as changes in autonomic nervous system activity or reflexes triggered by the body’s natural oscillations during movement.”

Aside from its bowel-based benefits, a stroll can “improve cardiovascular health by strengthening the heart, thereby helping circulation, lower[ing] blood pressure, [and] helping in the prevention of heart disease and stroke,” Matthew Nolan, a chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City, previously told HuffPost.

Andy Burnham’s new plan to offer metro mayors a greater proportion of income tax to spend on their local communities has already hit a stumbling block.

In his push for devolution, the prime minister promised that “more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community” in plans to be outlined in his autumn Budget.

Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, Lord Houchen, then suggested giving that extra cash back to taxpayers.

But first secretary of state Louise Haigh slapped down the proposal this morning, telling Times Radio: ”Mayors have the ability to spend the money almost as they want now, especially in advanced mayoral authorities like Tees Valley.

“To my knowledge, Ben hasn’t developed a rebate scheme and it’s not in their gift to set income tax or business rates.

“So we would anticipate that the money would be invested into public services and into growth schemes that benefit the community as a whole.”

She added: “Mayors don’t have the ability and won’t have the ability under these plans to set income tax rates at a regional level …

“Those kind of schemes necessitate HMRC to set up full schemes. That’s just not possible at the moment.

“The way that the mayors are set up and to work is to reinvest the money into their public services, into their local economies.”

Houchen later replied on X claiming the proposals do not “sound much like devolution” to him.

He wrote: “So devolution means getting people’s taxes to spend but not being allowed to give it back to them.

“Last time I spoke to the PM, devolution was about Whitehall not dictating what areas can or can’t do.

“Doesn’t sound much like devolution to me? Just an excuse for a tax grab.

“They want to reward mayors for growing the economy but the best way to grow the economy is to let people keep more of what they earn.”

Chancellor John Healey later hit back at the mayor, telling broadcaster: “If mayors want to cut investment, like Ben Houchen says he wants to do, then he’s got to answer for the fact that bus services don’t improve, that jobs aren’t available…

“And I hope he’ll see, like most other mayors see, that this is a big opportunity for them, big opportunity for the businesses in their area and a big opportunity for the people in their area.”

The Conservatives also expressed concerns over the plan, as shadow local government secretary James Cleverly said it would just lead to higher taxes.

He said: “Andy Burnham is right to want to encourage growth in all communities.

“But his top-down Manchesterism will lead to higher taxes, with no guarantee of better outcomes for local people.

“Devolution cannot be imposed from above – it can only work if it’s done in cooperation with local people.

“But Labour’s regionalist approach takes power away from local communities, sidelining local councils and ignoring local identities.

“What works in Manchester won’t be the same for Essex, Cornwall or Cumbria.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also claimed: “The need to move power into our communities is undeniable, but this must benefit communities right across the country — not just those with the right postcode.

“The government’s own figures show areas without a strategic mayor are already receiving a fraction of the funding available to mayoral authorities and adding income tax powers on top of that would make a bad situation worse.

“The Liberal Democrats will continue fighting for every community across the country – whether that’s in cities like Hull, seaside towns like Cromer and Torquay, or in suburbs, market towns and villages across England.”

Meawhile, the deputy leader of the Green Party Rachel Millward, said it was a “welcome step” but “fiscal devolution cannot become an excuse for the government to ignore the deep funding crisis facing local councils”.

Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said: “Burnham must fully devolve the power to stop the housing of illegal migrants in local communities by the Home Office.

“Time to find out if Burnham means what he says or is just Starmer in jeans.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

The chancellor has confirmed the date of the first Budget under prime minister Andy Burnham.

John Healey announced in a video message online that he will unveil the government’s plans for tax and spending in the biggest fiscal event of the year on Wednesday, October 28.

In a video shared on social media, he said: “This will be a Budget that moves money and power out of Westminster, and into every postcode around Britain.

“It will be built on fiscal discipline. It will meet our fiscal rules. It’ll give businesses and families some of the stability they need to plan for the future.”

Burnham has repeatedly promised to stand by the 2024 Labour manifesto which laid out several key fiscal rules on spending and borrowing, including promises not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions.

Healey added: “This government is working fast to restore hope and back Britain’s communities.

“In the past two weeks, we have begun to kickstart growth in every postcode.

“We have backed British jobs, British skills and British businesses.

“And we have provided just a bit of breathing-space for those families and businesses that feel so squeezed, that feel without hope.”

Healey used to work as Keir Starmer’s defence secretary but quit over concerns the government would not meet its defence spending targets.

By moving Healey into the Treasury, Burnham signalled that he is conscious of the funding gaps within the defence budget.

However, the new prime minister and his cabinet are yet to confirm they will be able to stick to the plan to hike defence spending to 3% of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2030.

The pressure is also on Healey to plug the £4.7 billion black hole Starmer left in the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), and to fund Burnham’s policy-blitz from the last two months.

The Times estimates that the new PM has so far made £1.8 billion of spending commitments in his cost of living drive.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Since 2020, I have lost every prominent male figure in my family. My stepdad, uncle, granddad, my partner’s dad and finally, my lovely boy cat. I was very close to all of them and losing them completely undid me, to say the least.

Then, last year, I lost my pregnancy at nine weeks. It was rock bottom for me. I couldn’t convince myself to try and find hope anywhere despite it formerly being my default because it seemed I was just doomed to be heartbroken forever.

My grief is strange and like nothing I could have predicted. While I have had waves of dramatic, dark emotions, I mostly just gave up. It felt like every time I was close to something that felt like recovery, I was hit with another wave of bad news.

The current state of the world doesn’t help with this melancholy. Why would it? It feels like everything is terrible and getting worse at every turn. It’s an enduring global grief and weighs heavily on us.

Truly, how do you even begin to build resilience and hope in these circumstances?

While I have felt like my world was falling apart, we have had magic in the corners of our life. My partner and I are now auntie and uncle to four children and this summer, we went to visit them for a week in their hometown.

While we have spent time with them before, these extended long days experiencing the world through their eyes made me appreciate them and their perspective so much more. Their world is so much smaller than mine, their problems are nothing like mine is and the things that bring them joy are things I have taken for granted for as long as I can remember.

As we wandered around Hertfordshire Zoo, I watched them take in the dinosaur park in awe. They squealed when the animatronics moved, clapped when the ‘dinosaurs’ roared and were enchanted by the small train inside the park that took us on a tour of dinosaurs.

Our youngest niece is six months old and her favourite thing to do is gurgle with glee as we make funny sounds, dance toys in front of her bright eyes and stare lovingly at her relatives. She is so small, so new to the world but she gets to enjoy small pleasures in a way that adults could never replicate.

Our two year old niece finds herself absolutely hilarious. There is nothing or nobody that can make her laugh as much as herself. If you find her funny, though, her whole face lights up. Seeing adults smiling and laughing alongside her brings her pleasure beyond measure. Something many of us do every day without thinking can completely make her day.

The older niece and nephew find joy and comfort in watching their siblings grow. They are protective and thoughtful, ensuring that hands are held, fruit is consumed and hugs are limitless. They are only nine and six but their big, loving hearts are creating the safety and security that young children need to express themselves.

This is their whole world and really, it’s ours too. Looking after one another and finding joy where we can is almost all that matters.

I thought I had lost the people that taught me these things but really, we never stop learning and re-learning that all we have is each other, and that in itself is gorgeous.

As the late Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison said: “When it’s all gone, something carries on.”

I am so thankful for that.

You’re prepared for some solo time (you know what I mean). You lie back and load up some erotic content – only to be asked to prove you’re over 18.

You have two choices: stand up, find your wallet with your ID or credit card and supply it to a third party website, or take a selfie. It’s not exactly sexy, is it?

But since 25 July 2025, UK legislation has required social platforms to check users’ age before they access adult content.

According to the government website, the The Online Safety Act (OSA) was designed to “prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content”.

However, the age checks brought in under the Act are also impacting what fully grown adults can access on the internet – though they’re doing everything in their power to get around that.

After the Act came into effect, the number of people accessing VPNs immediately skyrocketed. Just three days later, VPN apps became the most-downloaded on Apple’s App Store in the UK and by December, VPN use had more than doubled since age verification was introduced.

For adults who aren’t using VPNs, though, the need to supply their ID to access porn sites is posing a problem.

“Since the law came into effect, we have undoubtedly seen adults, particularly those over aged 50, raise the most issues surrounding the need for age verification,” explains Anna Richards, founder and CEO of Frolic Me, an independent porn site for women.

Not only are older age groups less likely to be asked for ID when buying anything ‘adult’, but they might also be less in the know about how to get around age checks.

“While many Gen Z may circumvent these laws using VPNs, older, less tech-savvy adults are finding themselves self-censoring, anxious about leaving a digital footprint,” Richards continues.

“We are seeing them turn away from accessing perfectly legal erotic and educational content due to a fear of erosion of their privacy, anonymity, and therefore also their sexual freedom.”

Despite sexual content being hidden behind a paywall, adult content sites are required to verify age upon signing users onto their content.

On RedGIFs, a vertical, clipped porn site, it’s a similar issue, according to CEO Jimmy Tyldesley.

Only 44% of UK users who encounter the age verification prompt on his site follow through to provide age ID. This might sound like a small percentage, but in fact the UK has the highest completion rate of regions with similar age checks.

Tyldesly, who consulted on the OSA, believes this is pushing people away from porn sites that prioritise user safety “further into the depths of the internet”.

The numbers certainly seem to suggest so: in October of last year, Pornhub announced that UK visitors to its site had decreased by 77% since the Act was introduced.

While the visitor numbers to sites that don’t comply with the legislation are almost impossible to track, we can hazard a guess that the need for age ID hasn’t stopped people from accessing porn altogether.

In fact, porn viewers I spoke to (and Reddit threads I trawled) confirm people are turning to less regulated sites to avoid because of fears around their porn habits being tracked.

And not without reason: in December last year, hackers accessed more than 200 million search history and viewing habits records of paying PornHub Premium members.

Plus, earlier in 2026, Spanish data protection regulator AEPD fined Yoti, a digital ID site used by UK-based porn platforms, €950,000 for mishandling biometric data under EU GDPR law.

According to Evie Plumb, sex educator, therapist, and founder of sex education site Cliterally the Best, the added factor of age verification can inadvertently reinforce users’ shame because it can frame porn as something that should be hidden.

“My clients are trying to unlearn that porn is ‘bad’, and learn to have a healthy relationship with it if they have compulsive sexual behaviour,” Plumb explains.

“Often the root cause of that is shame, and there’s a shame cycle: the more shame you feel, the more likely you are to feel out of control with that relationship [with porn] and turn to it as a way to de-stress.

“Even if you’ve done all the work in the world, you might still feel shame when you watch porn. When you need to provide age verification it wakes you up to that immediately, and seems like you shouldn’t be watching it.

While men are more likely to watch – or at least admit to watching – porn than women, this sexual shame is likely to be far-reaching.

Unsurprisingly, sexual minorities are going to bear the brunt of the impact, explains Paulita Pappel, founder of amateur, creator-led porn site, Lustery, who thinks the Act is disproportionately impacting porn sites that work hard to prioritise representation.

“The more hurdles that are being put into the industry, the harder it gets for platforms and creators that are showing more diversity: representation of identities, bodies, sexual practices, and sexualities,” she says.

“These obligations make it way harder for them to comply because they don’t have the big legal teams that other companies have.”

These fears are already a reality: immediately after the OSA came into effect, female-focused porn platform Bellesa announced it was blocking UK viewers due the cost of implementing age checks.

Ultimately, this will mean “less visibility for the queer user to enjoy pornography that speaks to them and is made by them and for them,” Pappel says.

What’s even more worrying is that these restrictions are not being backed up by education – both for adults experiencing shame, and for the children the aim is so vehemently trying to protect.

Last year, the Children’s Commissioner confirmed that children as young as six stumble upon porn on social media by accident.

But at the same time, less than half of school children learn about pornography – including its content and its impact on sex and relationships – in sex education at school.

To add insult to injury, in some cases the Act requires age ID to access educational content online and on social media.

The UK government is currently consulting on platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Facebook suppressing and, in some cases, altogether removing content related to women’s health. That is, posts that contain words like ‘vagina’, ‘tampon’, ‘menopause’ and ‘endometriosis’, to name a few.

So where are young people supposed to go for information about sex? According to content creator and sex educator Dee Whitnell, they’re now turning to AI as a way to fill the gaps in their knowledge.

Speaking on a panel at The Queer Health Gala, a first of its kind charity fundraiser earlier this month, Whitnell said: “Now social media is censoring sex educators’ content, kids are now going to AI because that is unregulated and uncensored.”

A year on, we must ask whether the Act has been a success, says Tyldesley. “Has it kept kids off porn sites? Has it been a success from an enforcement perspective?” he asks.

Fines totalling £5 million have been issued to eight companies who breach the Online Safety Act, according to an Ofcom spokesperson. But “some of the fines we’ve issued have been paid and some have not yet passed their deadlines to pay,” they told HuffPost.

“Where deadlines have passed and we have yet to receive payment, we have initiated work regarding the pursuit of that debt.”

Although a recent report published by the regulator suggests age checks are an effective deterrent to children accessing porn sites, that barely scratches the surface of what children could stumble across elsewhere.

“I would be interested to hear whether the laws have indeed proved effective enough in protecting children, over that of the compromise to adult privacy, sexual wellness, and personal freedoms,” says Richards.

As I heard founder of Make Love Not Porn, Cindy Gallop, say on a panel to launch her Yes Sex Please We’re British campaign: “It’s not about what you disable, it’s about what you enable.” The only way forward is through appropriate sex education for everyone.