Tom White

Thanks Laura!

I'll be talking about researching & writing Bad Dust at Strathclyde on March 3rd! The Andersonian's asbestos archives are an incredible resource -- I couldn't have written about the #asbestos disaster without them (and there is still plenty more work to be done).

I'll be talking about researching & writing Bad Dust at Strathclyde on March 3rd! The Andersonian's asbestos archives are an incredible resource -- I couldn't have written about the #asbestos disaster without them (and there is still plenty more work to be done).

Asbestos: The Neoliberal Poison Asbestos exposure remains the leading cause of occupational deaths in Britain today. Why did successive neoliberal governments fail to address the problem — and how can we challenge their toxic legacy...

The @neunion.bsky.social & @nasuwt-official.bsky.social have criticised Labour, but without a coordinated campaign by workers, parents, and students, #asbestos will stay where it is tribunemag.co.uk/2025/10/asbe...

By contrast, our government's new "Education Estates Strategy: a decade of national renewal" does not contain a single mention of a material that causes thousands of preventable deaths every year #asbestos

The South Korean city of Daegu has spent the last ten years removing #abestos from virtually every school in the metropolitan area. It cost 185.6 billion won (roughly £96m) -- money v well spent!
yeongnam.com/web/view.php...

And in more detail in Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-...

The prevelance of #asbestos in schools should be a national scandal & the goverment's "Rebuilding Programme" is nothing of the sort. I wrote abt this issue last year for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
t.co/sUTua6J5fC

Asbestos still present in 83% of state schools in England, experts warn Occupational...

"the Government’s Schools Rebuilding Programme & Education Estates Strategy make no substantive reference to asbestos, relying instead on the Condition Data Collection...which explicitly states that it “does not report on hazardous materials (principally asbestos)”."

pressat.co.uk/releases/asb...

Understanding the UK’s asbestos disaster | Confront Power Profit-hungry industry, complicit governments, and overly bureaucratic unions. Tom White, author of Bad Dust, provides his insights into the UK’s asbestos disaster and why the issues with asbestos ref...

I spoke to Tom Quinn from @confrontpower.bsky.social about my book Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster. Tom has been doing some brilliant investigative work, so I was very happy to contribute!
confrontpower.org/uk-asbestos-...

Order Bad Dust here: www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-...

Understanding the UK’s asbestos disaster | Confront Power Profit-hungry industry, complicit governments, and overly bureaucratic unions. Tom White, author of Bad Dust, provides his insights into the UK’s asbestos disaster and why the issues with asbestos ref...

I spoke to Tom Quinn from @confrontpower.bsky.social about my book Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster. Tom has been doing some brilliant investigative work, so I was very happy to contribute!
confrontpower.org/uk-asbestos-...

Understanding the UK’s asbestos disaster | Confront Power Profit-hungry industry, complicit governments, and overly bureaucratic unions. Tom White, author of Bad Dust, provides his insights into the UK’s asbestos disaster and why the issues with asbestos ref...

How did it take more than 100 years of workers dying for an #asbestos ban to be considered in the UK? And why do exposures continue?

We speak to Tom White his new book Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster.

Read the interview: confrontpower.org/uk-asbestos-...



@tom--white.bsky.social

Palestinians in Gaza face deadly asbestos risk from toxic war rubble YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

The prevalence of #asbestos building materials in Gaza shows the disregard for the lives of Palestinians under apartheid rule. Now that many of those bldgs have been destroyed, the deadly fibres will keep killing for decades more

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EnF...

The Town That Asbestos Built. The Cancer It Left Behind | The Tyee Former residents of Cassiar say they weren’t warned about the risks. Now, they struggle to find support.

The Town That Asbestos Built. The Cancer It Left Behind via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

Tom White · Short Cuts: A Bridge across the Humber In 1966, as election day approached, Labour dispatched MPs and ministers to Hull, including Tony Benn, Tony Crosland,...

5. And for the @lrb.co.uk, a little preview of the new book project I've been working on: "A Bridge across the Humber"
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

4. An interview with the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social about Bad Dust newbooksnetwork.com/bad-dust

It’s still killing people, and the government has yet to act: Britain’s hidden asbestos epidemic | Tom White Asbestos was banned in 1999, but as materials left in our buildings deteriorate, thousands of lives are being lost every year, says writer and education worker Tom White

3. For @theguardian.com, "It’s still killing people, and the government has yet to act: Britain’s hidden asbestos epidemic" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Asbestos: The Neoliberal Poison Asbestos exposure remains the leading cause of occupational deaths in Britain today. Why did successive neoliberal governments fail to address the problem — and how can we challenge their toxic legacy...

2. For @tribunemagazine.bsky.social, "Asbestos: the neoliberal poison"
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/10/asbe...

A 2025 round-up -- thanks to everyone who has read/listened this year!

1. Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster. Described by @municipaldreams.bsky.social as a "must read"!
hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-Wh

I can't claim it will be a particularly cheerful read, but pls consider buying a copy of Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster this Xmas.

The book is a history of a once indomitable industry, and of the movement that rose up to oppose it. www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-...

And if you'd like to hear me talking about it:
newbooksnetwork.com/bad-dust

A crocidolite vein Once marketed as the “magic mineral”, asbestos has become synonymous with disease. Bad Dust moves from mines in South Africa to factories in northern

www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

Capitalism’s secret killer Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster Tom White, Repeater, £12.99THIS book is more than just a narration of the horrific asbestos-related lung diseases which have afflicted and continue to...

morningstaronline.co.uk/article/capi...

Don't just take my word for it!

I can't claim it will be a particularly cheerful read, but pls consider buying a copy of Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster this Xmas.

The book is a history of a once indomitable industry, and of the movement that rose up to oppose it. www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-...

Tom White · Short Cuts: A Bridge across the Humber In 1966, as election day approached, Labour dispatched MPs and ministers to Hull, including Tony Benn, Tony Crosland,...

‘For much of the 1980s, it was seen by critics as a white elephant. It connected the declining city of Hull with the empty expanses of North Lincolnshire: nowhere with nowhere.’

@tom--white.bsky.social on how the Humber Bridge was built.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Tom White · Short Cuts: A Bridge across the Humber In 1966, as election day approached, Labour dispatched MPs and ministers to Hull, including Tony Benn, Tony Crosland,...

‘Rather than an important component in a long-term regional plan, it was now clear that the bridge was the only component in that plan. For much of the 1980s, it was seen by critics as a white elephant.’

@tom--white.bsky.social on how the Humber Bridge was built:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Tom White · Short Cuts: A Bridge across the Humber In 1966, as election day approached, Labour dispatched MPs and ministers to Hull, including Tony Benn, Tony Crosland,...

‘If the bridge was an electoral bribe, it was one that the people of Humberside would end up paying themselves, in the form of toll charges that increased every year for decades.’

@tom--white.bsky.social on how the Humber Bridge was built.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Tom White · Short Cuts: A Bridge across the Humber In 1966, as election day approached, Labour dispatched MPs and ministers to Hull, including Tony Benn, Tony Crosland,...

‘Rather than an important component in a long-term regional plan, it was now clear that the Humber Bridge was the only component in that plan. For much of the 1980s, it was seen by critics as a white elephant.’

@tom--white.bsky.social on how the Humber Bridge was built
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...