The prospect of Nigel Farage fighting a people vs the establishment by-election in which the only other candidate is Count Binface - is too hilarious for words.

On my way, Clacton.

American Leader gives powerful 4July speech

Delightful thread 👇

Quite something to see a politician praise prisoners for attempting rehabilitation, rather than just condemn them as scum

And as Chris says you learn more. Plus a disastrous strategy only makes a mess in one area not the whole country (*stares at Grayling's probation privatisation*) bsky.app/profile/chri...

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

Easy solutions to complex problems. Simples! 🙄

“…when a culture of impunity sets in …”

Edward Luce in the Financial Times about Musk:

A wee group of angry balaclava and mask-wearing anti-immigration guys tried to stop the good people of Glasgow showing solidarity with migrants and standing up to racism and fascism. Well, the far right are far outnumbered... #RefugeesWelcome #MigrantsWelcome #NeighboursNotStrangers #Glasgow

Prison system stuck in decline IMB national annual report says the prison system is stuck in decline with same fundamental concerns and no evidence of change www.russellwebster.com/prison-syste...

Don’t know if my MP @tessamunt.bsky.social is still using X. Very much hope not. Tessa?

"The human impact of the overuse of recall is devastating, as is the pressure high recall numbers place on the prison system. Rarely are the reasons for the recall compelling; sometimes they are absurd." https://insidetime.org/information/broken-by-design-the-rise-of-prison-recalls/

“..actors who seek financial deregulation above all other concerns.” 🎯 What else do people think the huge donations are seeking to buy? Great piece.

Immigration make Britain brilliant

"When given suitable resources the Civil Service can often outperform private companies like Palantir," 'Millions' of pounds saved by replacing Palantir tech in refugee system

“Many people spend up to half of their working hours in meetings “

We’ve been working on a series to help you understand Nigel Farage's insurgent party. The first introduces six Reform (or Reform-curious) voters from across the country in the run-up to crucial elections on May 7, showing just how broad the party’s coalition has become. as.ft.com/r/9c1432fe-1...

Wincing at the use of language (it’s “fewer” children not “less” 🙄)

The Howard League for Penal Reform is delighted to announce the appointment of Dame Anne Owers as its new Chair. Dame Anne's vast leadership experience and understanding of the criminal justice system make her the perfect candidate to lead the board at this critical time. https://ow.ly/St7U50YKjjG

Record your views and plrase share. Government consultation. consult.defra.gov.uk/defra/trail-...

Details of the verdict against Meta and Google re liability for social media addiction www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram told him that as minister for prisons, probation and justice he had "served as a role model to all". To be fair, as a Chief Probation Officer at that time he was emphatically never my role model. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Meta can brush off huge financial penalties. They just need consumers to overlook their behaviour and keep using their products.

To oversee “the biggest expansion of tagging in British history” The professional has been transformed. Grayling dream realised. #TransformingRehabilitation

The “special relationship” always been imbalanced.Trump’s merely ripped the tactful veneer off it. IMO, Starmer was right not to join the Iran offensive; but also right to adapt to changing circs by committing defensive resources now. We didn’t want this war, but must now try to limit its impacts.

This is a gem of a final paragraph @alanbeattie.bsky.social

Insightful reporting by David Allen Green at the Financial Times on why Palantir data-analytics defence contracts with UK government should raise concern.

I have a book out in less than a month and so I am plugging it shamelessly. Here is the opening poem. Please consider joining our attendance to the office of the moment by pre-ordering a copy here! www.bluediode.co.uk/product-page...

NEW ‘Scandal’. A word to be used sparingly - but this is it. Ministry of Justice is spending over £100 million on a prison that can’t hold prisoners - Dartmoor. Key decisions taken in March 2022. Justice Secretary was Dominic Raab & Permanent Secretary Antonia Romeo, now at the Home Office…

This is a bold, evidence-led report that tells it exactly like it is: that Scotland's current level of imprisonment "goes far beyond what is required for public safety", because "having a high prison population does not equate to a safer society". And so say all of us.

youtube.com/watch?v=zJnk... So… this is what Trump, Ice and President Steven Miller have unleashed on the American people. Teachers dropping a dime on “illegal” 7 year olds that only appear to be “illegal” because they look “Hispanic”. Every American should listen to this.

Poland to probe possible links between Epstein and Russia, PM Tusk says reut.rs/3ZjaEGe

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new leader on Saturday to run New York City’s Department of Correction. Stanley Richards, who most recently served as the chief executive of a prisoner advocacy nonprofit, will be the first formerly incarcerated person to lead the department.

I wrote this poem the day after Renee Good was murdered - it’s about how the media and politicians immediately dehumanised her. I have had a few people ask “who wrote it?” So I am putting it up again - written in anger

Watching Robert Jenrick badmouth all his mates and fall like a shot pheasant into Nigel Farage’s bulging game bag brought plenty of cheer to a dreary January afternoon ✍️Ben Wildsmith wp.me/p8Mk4U-1cLk

Reform told you reducing council tax was easy. They just had to slash Woke policies, and a billion or two would be saved. They wouldn't even need to close care services. They promise you that. And then every single Reform-led council cut care services and increased council tax.

She's right... and it comes down to money. SCS salaries are down 20% in real terms since 2010. You have directors on less than £100k. The main reason we still have a functioning SCS is Stockholm syndrome.

Excellence in Delivery Award – BOLD Programme – North Essex Probation Delivery Unit Case Information Dashboard, Ministry of Justice

Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow, gave this year’s Howard League Lecture, with the title ‘Rehabilitation and Penal Reform’. Read the lecture here: https://howardleague.org/blog/the-2025-howard-league-lecture-held-in-memory-of-lord-parmoor/

These decisions…"imply cutting ‘other’ departments (including local government and justice) by £6.4bn in real terms between 2028-29 and 2029-30".

As research reveals families feel informed about what’s happening in school, but not always listened to or understood, here are key lessons from trusts with strong reputations for building positive relationships with parents schoolsweek.co.uk/5-lessons-fr...

So worth a watch / listen…

Good appointment www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Are you interested in working for a more humane and effective response to crime? We are looking for a Development Officer to join our busy team. https://howardleague.org/about-us/vacancies/development-officer/

“We find it extraordinary that contracts were awarded to both Serco and AUEM despite being found by the Serious Fraud Office to have been dishonestly misleading the government while providing EM services,”

The issues at #Medomsley have been known for many years. This 2012 report is (warning) very distressing and gives a glimpse of the horror. www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/...