If the British left has a future, it’s in Faiza Shaheen

“‘Demonstrations’ in the fullest sense of the word—proof of how many people these organizations could mobilize, and how militantly they could be mobilized” @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social author of Elite Capture, in @time.com

Palestine Action knew that appeals to morality were pointless, that blocking the killing machine was the only way. The government’s decision to ban them is an acknowledgement of how effective that strategy is.

Reality has a well known anti-Israel bias.

I wrote about Dr Laila Soueif’s hunger strike to #FreeAlaa & why it’s always mothers on the frontline of the fight against prisons @labour-hub.bsky.social labourhub.org.uk/2025/06/12/r...

How on earth can the UK sanction two Israeli ministers yet — at the very same time — continue supplying weapons to the very government they serve? The UK’s position is becoming more absurd by the day. End all arms sales to Israel, now.

Prisons are institutions of power and control, they will never ever be caring places.

They really are saying the quiet bit out loud now, fucking hell

One horrific headline after another revealing the tip of the iceberg of ongoing genocidal violence. All while the international community lets this continue despite the fact that the 1948 UN convention which outlaws genocide *obligates* states to prevent and punish genocide.

An ex-police officer built a mobile prison cell that tours primary schools so children can experience “prison life” and it’s called HMP Not-4-Me and this is the website and it’s not satire: hmpnot4me.co.uk/our-programmes

Wellness fascism has reached its horrifying apex

Some hope from the Independent Sentencing Review. If the government are serious, they will divert funding away from prisons into communities.

A Nottinghamshire police officer accused of banging a teenage girl's head on a vehicle and putting his hands on her throat has been sacked following a two-day misconduct hearing www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midland...

More harrowing accounts of women being cuffed to officers during childbirth. Every day there’s more evidence of why we need to end the imprisonment of pregnant women. www.thetimes.com/article/8502...

Completely normal and not in any way fascist police state observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It’s now confirmed that pregnant women fall into the scope of The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill. This means it is going to remove one of the very few, hard-won protections we have for pregnant women and mothers: the direction for courts not to sentence them without a PSR.

So moved by this song about mums in pre-trial detention that Fiona Apple released yesterday! While the US & UK bail systems are different, the devastating impacts of holding mothers in prison are the same: losing housing, healthcare and children. pitchfork.com/news/fiona-a...

‘The pain was worse than giving birth’: why are so many women separated from their babies in prison?

I want to talk about trans suicides and 'distress'. Specifically in the context of this thread and the climate of sheer hostility that has been fostered by government policy and societal apathy towards, if not outright endorsement of, trans suffering. Many folks chalk this up to "gender distress".

A moving letter from a criminal defence solicitor representing a young mother of an infant, who explains the human cost of losing the new sentencing guideline. “The justice secretary’s political point-scoring has devastating consequences” @hodgejonesallen.bsky.social

Very frustrating that, in a sentencing guideline that features 11 sections, Jenrick’s baseless intervention on *1* of them has dominated all public perception. This guideline explicitly, and for the first time, directed courts to avoid imprisoning pregnant women & mothers due to the risks.

A clear-sighted editorial on the government’s posturing around pre-sentence report requirements in the new sentencing guideline. It appears to be the first time anyone has acknowledged we have no probation staff to even write these reports anyway. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A clear-sighted editorial on the government’s posturing around pre-sentence report requirements in the new sentencing guideline. It appears to be the first time anyone has acknowledged we have no probation staff to even write these reports anyway. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I have written about the sentencing guidelines shitshow. Infuriating to see yet another Labour government seek to appease a rightwing voter base by reinforcing the “tough on crime” doom loop that has gridlocked our justice system for the past 30 years. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I wish this was an April Fool’s

If Labour continue on this trajectory, pound shop Powell is gonna be running our country in not too long.

Hard-won guidelines that would have seen courts instructed to avoid sending pregnant women to prison will no longer come into force tomorrow. Because Shabana rolled over for the far-right. www.theguardian.com/law/2025/mar...

Labour are now firmly to the right of the Tories on immigration. I don’t say that lightly.

Truly astonishing the government has been baited into a populist pantomime around pre-sentence reports when we barely have any probation service left to even write them anyway. Pathetic.

ADORABLE No Births Behind Bars protest outside the MOJ to demand an end to imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers. Grumpy babies say NO MORE!

“I insist on being shocked. I am never going to become immune. I think that’s a kind of failure to see so much of it that you die inside. I want to be surprised and shocked every time.” ― Toni Morrison

Austerity is a political choice presented as an accounting problem. There’s always money for weapons, never for women’s safety. Or to pay women for the untold hours of care labour we provide to our families, children and communities that keep this precious “economy” running.

A beautiful INQUEST event last night, launching their archive documenting 40 years of state violence and resistance at the Bishopsgate Institute. @inquest-org.bsky.social radiate with integrity. I admire their fearless work and the deep community of bereaved families they nurture and fight for.

This isn't the canary in the coal mine, it's a mine shaft full of dead miners.

If you're enjoying the @itvx.com #spycops documentary 'The Undercover Police Scandal: Love & Lies Exposed' but haven't read the book yet, now's the time to pre-order your paperback copy which is out THIS THURSDAY 13th MARCH. lnk.to/UndercoverPo...

The theme of IWD was set in 1911: socialist feminist revolution!

International Women’s Day originated in working-class and migrant women’s protests against life-threatening conditions in sweatshops in 1911 in New York. The best way to celebrate today is to join a union & get organised.

'What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo, there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys, who dance on your fingertips. Others are lions, who can bite your head off. We are the lions, Mr Manager.' — Jayaben Desai, 1976-78 Grunwick strike leader

Make that over 200 ❤️‍🔥

Judith Butler: "Once you decide that a single vulnerable minority can be sacrificed, you’re operating within a fascist logic, because that means there might be a second one you’re willing to sacrifice, and a third, a fourth, and then what happens?"

These are imo excellent, well considered guidelines and it is extremely disappointing that they are being diverted for political point scoring

How it started How it’s going

🎉CAMPAIGN WIN: Sentencing Council announce new Imposition guideline that acknowledges prison is high-risk for pregnant women and tells courts to avoid sending women there! 📣🎉✨ This is so, so hard-won & would never have happened without the power of MOTHERS 🎉💞 www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Really proud of this piece. Grateful to Avalyn, Rowan and Sarah for sharing their stories. It's a national scandal that long Covid patients have been forgotten by the government, employers & society at large. The least we can do is keep talking about them www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

SOLD OUT 😱 in person but there will be a link to join remotely! Join us next Wednesday:

“More than half of people believe that non-violent female offenders should serve their sentence in the community instead of prison, rising to almost two-thirds for women with children” Not a fan of the violent/ non-violent distinction but this is still significant www.thetimes.com/article/5127...

Update: over 100 people have now emailed the Ministry of Justice echoing the women’s calls for an investigation. This is what solidarity looks like ❤️

“Beneath this political football are children who are in the most dire circumstances of their young lives. This is what must remain at the heart of this discussion.” artistsforpalestine.org.uk/2025/02/26/5...

We were founded in 1996 after a Channel 4 News report showed a woman in custody at Holloway prison being held in restraints during labour. And yet, here we are again, nearly 30 years later. Our hearts go out to these mothers and their families. www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/02/25/h...

A pregnant woman who was unlawfully handcuffed to an officer for 48 hours during labour says “I feel I was treated as less than an animal.” She's calling for an independent investigation into why this was allowed to happen – and she needs all our support. Get involved: welevelup.org/inquiry/