I am seeing a lot of the 'Reform won't be competent' argument coming up. Reform are a 'post competence party'. They exist in a world where neoliberalism has told people politics can't work, and won't. They won't be assessed on competence. Their voters don't expect them to be. /1

This is unfortunately how it’s going to stay because if we militantly resist change for the better, then we will only ever get change for much worse.

Really pleased to see this. For decades the education system has been subject to increasing commodification and centralised control. The result has been increased exclusions and reduced mental health for children.

Universities spend £££ to attract & retain what they allege are the best senior managers who then spend more on paying consultants. Those consultants sell the same solutions to multiple institutions. = cuts to staff who make universities work Spend the money on staff www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

This also shows up the disingenuous nature of Labour's bogus "safe routes" using work and study visas, which will take a year and a half at least for people to reach UK. Not to mention that this "crackdown on abuse" also includes trapping even Chevening Scholars in situations of extreme persecution.

Mum hospitalised in 1st wave, Dad died; she never came home, got decanted to care home, put in solitary confinement. Unspeakable misery. Boris and crew made terrible decisions, fuelled by hubris and a desire to party. I'm incandescent with rage. (Thank you Christina for making sure we don't forget).

Of course no one from *checks notes* Sudan or Afghanistan could be in genuine danger.

Spent the last year working on a grant application with 2 brilliant people in @manchstm.bsky.social. We submitted it this week. There’s an 8% success rate in this scheme, so I’m trying to hold on to the value of our conversations/the process, but it’s a reminder of how impossible things have become

When Danny received his diagnosis & a truly awful ed psych told me not to be optimistic about his future, an older (male) colleague at work told me I should think about giving up my career. My whole working life has involved caring responsibilities, & yes academia continues to be inhospitable

We are very disappointed with Heriot-Watt's response to our proposal to settle the dispute. They have not moved one inch and remain determined to threaten staff with compulsory redundancy Therefore we have no option but to return to strike action, Wed to Fri this week and Mon-Wed next week. #ucu

Northumbria University’s attempt to entice academics to abandon expensive pension scheme by offering generous payouts described as ‘abject failure’

The most consistently accurate frame to understand the appearance of articles like this is knowing that The Guardian and OpenAI have a partnership.

Straight up, easily disprovable, racism from Reform. People seeking asylum are often at more risk of contracting infectious diseases in the UK upon arriving than being carriers, primarily due to the conditions they are forced into. Not to mention, pretty hard to survive the journey when that sick.

Yes, nobody who matters even blinked at any of this shit while Morgan was running the show, and lots of them enthusiastically joined in. What does all this tell us, about the type of person who gets promoted in politics and media?

Timothy Snyder: Do not obey in advance. UK HE: how can we obey in advance *better*?

There's no universe where a Reform government deems my teaching "legitimate", so how should my employer "prepare" for that? Fire me in anticipation? Laboriously inspect my teaching resources for wrong thought? Make me teach certain things under threat of disciplinary sanction?

Just to echo @desfitzgerald.bsky.social - this is so so grim.

Solidarity with Aberdeen @ucu.org.uk staff on strike! Pleased to join staff & students on today's picket line. Staff are on strike to oppose job cuts & uni restructuring - changes that could be as devastating as those in the 1980s. The uni cannot cut its way to growth! It must listen to staff!

'some creative arts graduates don’t appear to earn a significant graduate premium, but the UK’s creative industries are worth £125bn a year or, to put it another way, more than £1 in every £20 in the UK economy – a larger proportion of the nation’s wealth than almost any other country on earth.' 1/3

39 Sudanese Chevening Scholarship finalists ejected this week from consideration for the scheme, for being Sudanese.

Every hospital in England has been urged to disobey an NHS directive to use software operated by controversial US analytics software company Palantir www.bmj.com/content/392/...

"Palantir CEO Alex Karp thinks his AI technology will lessen the power of 'highly educated, often female voters, who vote mostly Democrat' while increasing the power of working-class men." Remind me again why Labour is shoving vast public contracts down its throat?

There has been a lot of reporting on facial recognition systems leading to false arrests, almost entirely of Black people. Now we're seeing reports of automated license plate readers like Flock leading to the same thing. Surveillance supercharges racism. www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety...

Sunrise over Mitte. It has been great to be back in Berlin. #Mitte #Berlin

Workers don’t vote for 5 consecutive bouts of industrial action with a 75% turnout unless something is seriously wrong. Solidarity with all in Unite UCU ✊🔥

🚨 FIFTH consecutive vote for industrial action 🚨 🔥 Two week ballot window 🔥 75% turnout 🔥 73% YES to strike action 🔥 81% YES to ASOS Our members will not tolerate victimisation and won’t be intimidated. UCU staff are not the enemy. It’s beyond time for the GS to talk to us. #HandsOffMarie

An alarming and enlightening thread on the lack of democracy at UCU HQ: silencing & threatening those who dissent/call for accountability, as well as attempting to shut down solidarity from branches. We need to put an end to this

Solidarity with Marie. Everything I've heard around the Unite dispute and the treatment of its members in UCU is absolutely shocking and disgraceful behaviour for a union.

Hope and Refusal in an Era of Criminalised Care: Responses to Pirate Care 7 – 8pm GMT, Tuesday 3rd of March 2026 (online) Register: lakeheadu.zoom.us/meeting/regi... The Book Review Symposium publication can be found here: link.springer.com/article/10.1... More info: vagabonds.xyz #Anticapitalism

A disabled peer has raised fears that people with learning difficulties could be “collateral damage” if a controversial assisted suicide bill becomes law. #AssistedSuicide #AssistedDying www.disabilitynewsservice.com/people-with-...

This is a fab explainer of many of the issues HE is facing. Solidarity to our @unisonmmu.bsky.social colleagues who are fighting for us all. Brilliant to see the student support and solidarity too. youtu.be/uIqntto9TdY?...

Insightful & alarming thread. Our branch is deliberately not aligned with any union faction. However it gets spun, this isn’t a factional issue, this is an issue of democracy and trade union rights, both under strain in our very own union. #HandsOffMarie & solidarity with @uniteucu.bsky.social

What is happening within UCU is disgraceful - solidarity with @uniteucu.bsky.social

Every word of @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social thread + this point especially. Why is our own union behaving like this in its capacity as an employer? Why are elected democratic bodies prevented from having the basic discussions about solidarity we ask of everyone else when our members are threatened?

This is a thread about UCU & what it has become over the last few years. But the first thing I want to say is I didn’t join a union to stay silent or turn my back on a single parent of three facing dismissal on the basis of their trade union activities. Marie Monaghan is the Unite UCU 1/12

Campaign as ONE is about standing together on issues that matter — like NHS staffing levels. Understaffing is affecting patient care, workloads and wellbeing. This Frontline article explains what’s happening, actions happening nationally, and how members can campaign locally: https://bit.ly/4bGubb3

“The UK and US have sunk to new lows in a global index of corruption, amid a “worrying trend” of democratic institutions being eroded by political donations, cash for access and state targeting of campaigners and journalists.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Astonishing thread/blog on the rotten state of the @ucu.org.uk - a trade union of all things. I resent every pound of my membership that's spent on subverting democracy, bullying staff, and covering-up wrongdoing.

This is a really important case for democracy within UCU. Thank you to Vicky and Ewan for bringing this case. Given how difficult it is to get any legal support for @ucu.org.uk lay members wanting to go to ET, it is all the more galling that UCU leadership have hired King's Counsel.

Thank you for sticking up for members, and for democracy. I am sure that all those who believe in these principles are behind you.

Unite against TU Victimisation @Unitetheunion.bsky.social doesn't tolerate the victimisation of its reps by employers. Today our members in the North West are showing what solidarity looks like. It's time UCU ended the victimisation of Marie, our Health & Safety Officer. #Strike #HandsOffMarie

🚨NEW Epstein Co-Owned Venture Fund with Palantir Founder as it Entered UK Government The convicted sex trafficker co-owned a fund with Peter Thiel, now embedded in Britain’s most critical infrastructure, with the help of Peter Mandelson bylinetimes.com/2026/02/04/j...

🔴 BREAKING: Labour Together paid controversial PR firm £30k to investigate journalists who were digging into how its undeclared funding Reporters from Sunday Times, Guardian and other outlets targetted *And* Morgan McSweeney knew about it Full story: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

To talk about destroying opponents just for having the temerity to exercise a basic right in any democratic organisation- to stand for election or to disagree - is truly disturbing. This is not how we should treat each other in a union.

Peter Mandelson accompanied Keir Starmer to Palantir's HQ while his lobbying firm had Palantir as a client. Since then? Palantir has landed £720m+ in UK government contracts. We deserve answers. Sign the petition ⬇️ www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/ma...

Ewan has also posted ⬇️ We believe the evidence shows serious misuse of member-funded union infrastructure in an election. Even on the most charitable reading, that is a leadership and accountability failure. Hearing: 10 February 2026. Observers: info [at]certoffice[dot]org bsky.app/profile/ewan...

Marie is our Regional Support Officer & is fantastic. Trade union victimisation is indefensible & abhorrent. To see it done by a union employer undermines the work of all trade unionists. We have written to the GS to call for a stop to the victimisation and to settle the dispute. #HandsOffMarie

Our case concerns a basic democratic principle. Members’ subscriptions fund the union’s staff time and infrastructure. Those resources must not be used for any candidate’s personal advantage in an election. Clear institutional separation must exist between the union and any candidate’s campaign. /2