Did you know a barrister is facing prison just for reminding a jury they have the right to vote with their conscience? This historic right has existed since 1670. We can't let it be silenced in court now. Add your name to help protect Britain's juries: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

New research on community care legal aid published today! Comm care remains in scope of legal aid, but provision has crashed: from 8,539 Legal Help cases started in 2009-10 to 1,636 in 2024-25. Providers described Legal Help work as financially unviable on fees that have not increased since 1996.

@sussex.ac.uk law graduate Van Ferguson wins social welfare Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2026 for his incredible work representing claimants in Windrush Compensation Scheme. An absolute star!

New: How to apply for leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence — by Nath Gbikpi

Graph showing how hours of overwork translate into worsening wellbeing for lawyers, at RCSL conference in Rotterdam-really chimes with my findings w @wearelapg.bsky.social on unchargeable time in legal aid lapg.co.uk/wp-content/u...

I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Educators in support of the Filton defendants: drop the "terrorism connection" . Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/ed...

My new blog post on the JLS blog, linked to Chris Emberson and my article on the geography of access to justice - includes a beautiful but depressing map of the lack of access to housing legal representation across large parts of England and Wales. journaloflawandsociety.co.uk/blog/a-geogr...

We won! The Home Office’s changes to their “Allocation of Asylum Accommodation Policy” have been found to be unlawful. The changes forced survivors of torture to share rooms with strangers, placing them at risk of harm. We will never give up fighting for dignity and justice for survivors.

Moving statement of solidarity demanding equal justice for Windrush survivors, signed by Hillsborough, Grenfell, Post Office and other justice campaigns. Lack of funded legal representn in Windrush Compensation Scheme is a further injustice to the victims and survivors. www.ukblm.org/news/article...

Important intervention from the Windrush Commissioner on why funded legal representation in Windrush Compensation Scheme is essential. www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/mps-tol...? Our report last year showed average offer for the SAME claimant increased from £11 to 83K when they obtained expert legal rep.

Alison Bennett MP asking an important Q about legal aid for mental health work. www.instagram.com/reel/DYm70Vg... My pending report looks at community care legal aid- vulnerable adults no longer able to access lawyers in much of England & Wales, Legal Help provision crashing since LASPO Act despite

My new (open access) article with Chris Emberson on the geography of access to social welfare and immigration legal aid, in Journal of Law and Society. This is the product of 3 years of interviewing, mapping and stat crunching and I'm really proud of it. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

New post on The Justice Gap by the excellent @seyiugochukwu.bsky.social Undocumented migrants, legal aid and the architecture of structural exclusion www.thejusticegap.com/undocumented...

To celebrate #WorldPenguinDay, if you've never heard a penguin being tickled before, here's Penny the penguin being tickled.🔊

Legal aid for asylum seekers is hard to come by – it’s no wonder criminal advisers are taking advantage theconversation.com/legal-aid-fo... - and that deficit in access to legal aid is now looking even worse: up to 67% of new asylum applications and appeals in 2024-25 unlikely to have legal aid rep.

After 2 weeks of intense (and excellent) conferences about access to justice, and with the state of the world beyond that, all I want to do is look at (and share) beautiful photos of penguins. Highly recommend following Sue in case you ever need similar therapy.

Gentoo penguin...

The Rockhopper shower on Saunders Island is one of my favorite locations to visit... #penguins #rockhopper #birds #Saunders

Siesta time for a molting Magellanic penguin...

When you get that look from a Rockhopper penguin...

National gardening leave - a combination of a shorter working week and greater urban greening.

@jeanmclean.bsky.social of Green Economy Coalition talks about investing in people with amazing ideas and energy and commitment for ambitious climate action.

@andrewsimms.bsky.social author of Badvertising argues for a ban on petrol advertising and equivalents. 60% of new cars now SUVs, c/w 10% a decade ago- more polluting and more dangerous mode of transport at exactly the time we needed to shift the other way. Literally advertising our own destruction.

Launch event for the interdisciplinary Sussex School for Progressive Futures, with the fabulous @carolinelucas.bsky.social

Launch event for the interdisciplinary Sussex School for Progressive Futures, with the fabulous @carolinelucas.bsky.social

Excellent blog post explaining what Wicked: For Good tells us about what's wrong with the new asylum proposals in the UK, by my colleague Nuno Ferreira at @sussex.ac.uk lawpoliticsandsociology.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/w...

What happens when you start with a hostile asylum system that sets people up to fail and then persistently degrade the legal aid system people depend on to accompany them through it, to put together the evidence in the framework of the law.

Today we’re proud to launch Rights of Women’s 50th Anniversary Report - a powerful reflection on legal change over the past decade. Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner: www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...

Excellent blog and important argument by the brilliant Central England Law Centre @ce-lawcentre.bsky.social and Liz Curran on the problem of the poorest people being charged fees they can't afford for the evidence to (somewhat) ease their poverty.

Fascinating post by my brilliant colleague.

Exciting conference in Spain next September on the role of truth and evidence in regional human rights adjudication. dissect.ugent.be/events/inter... Abstracts by 22 December.

My article is featured on the front page of Laws journal (and it's free to read). It is of course about legal aid, and also about how that interacted with asylum policy in the 2022-24 period.

Love the cover photo and good to see it finally in print! Chapter 18 is mine: Undocumented- Insecure Immigration Status and its Impact on Children and Young People. The book contains a huge range of contributions incl one on Palestinian youth under occupation, written before the genocide started.

My new research report with @wearelapg.bsky.social shows legal aid practitioners spend a quarter of their working day, on average, on non-chargeable tasks essential to the running of their legal aid cases or contract: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...

This firm actually only had 2 people accredited to do asylum legal aid work, and set up 7 new offices doing asylum cases (for a total of 8). They closed 2,580 cases in one year, which is clearly impossible if those 2 people are actually doing the work. Contract now withdrawn, but only after

'We don't have the luxury of despair. The global bargain around sanctuary and the global commitment to sharing responsibility are being undermined.' 122 million ppl displaced by conflict, 2/3 stay in neighbouring countries. We have to raise voices for sanctuary:Vicky Tennant of UNHCR, at EARC conf.

200K Hong Kongers arrived in UK on safe legal routes and most people barely noticed. A tiny number arrive on small boats and things melt down. Safe legal routes not the whole answer but an important part. EARC Eastern Arc Sanctuary Solidarities conference.

New article just published- 'The Shifting Sands of Legal Aid Deserts: Access to Justice for Asylum in 2022–24', in a special issue of Laws on refugee protection, edited by the brilliant @raawiyah.bsky.social @apowelllaw.bsky.social and Ruvi Ziegler. Free to read: www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14...

Here's (part of) the problem with treating legal aid as a market. One firm bids (successfully) for contracts in immigration law in several advice desert areas. Begins taking on 2,797 cases in year to 31 March 2025, so it no longer looks like a provision shortage in those areas. (No newer data yet).

Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.

Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...

Also today - My new article for the Conversation on why funded legal representation is absolutely necessary for the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and other redress schemes for state harms. theconversation.com/windrush-sca...

My article, co-written with Dr Hannah Selby, is now available open access (ie free to read) in the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. 'Overwhelmed by the general demand for Advice: a picture of the not-for-profit legal advice sector in the 2020s' www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Ben Jennings on starvation in Gaza – cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Israel is, without doubt, committing genocide in Palestine. The UK government needs to 1) stop all arms sales and all other financial, political and military support for Israel: 2) do everything in its power to prevent this continuing and 3) recognise Palestinian statehood asap. Now, before one

The reckless and illegal killing of civilians waiting for lifesaving aid in Gaza must end. No one should have to risk their lives seeking food, water or medical care.

Hetticia McIntosh, one of the Windrush claimants who took part in our research, has started a petition for funded legal representation for Windrush Compensation applicants: url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kKkyCKQ50C... If you need persuading to sign, our report is at justice.org.uk/people-need-...

One stop hubs in every council area: golden opportunity to add a social welfare legal advice hub to every one of them, to address causes and conseqs of family poverty where there's w legal solution. Plan already mentions housing problems, so let's see housing, benefits, education early legal advice