BASW members! Help us to lead the conversation on AI in Social Work... Join our new member-led group to explore, influence, critique, and innovate around the use of digital tools, data, and emerging technologies in social work. Contact: [email protected]

Very sad to hear of the passing of social worker and activist Angi Naylor, who gave so much of herself, her humour, her unforgettable character, her time and energy to standing up for people and supporting others whenever and wherever she could. Rest well Angi xxx

Resources Review Editor sought for Practice: Social Work in Action journal. Want to build your own networks, develop and promote the research in your field, and be recognised as a leading figure within the academic community? Read on: think.taylorandfrancis.com/editor_recru...

Truly astonishing that other parties, politicians and the media aren’t taking Farage and his ilk to task over the fact that net immigration INCREASED as a direct result of Brexit. Do your homework and challenge this pernicious disinformation. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Largely unreported by the press, Wes Streeting attended the secretive, invitation-only Bilderberg 2025 summit at which politicians and billionaires met to opaquely and unaccountably discuss things that profoundly affect all of us. Why was he there? www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

They never change unless we make them: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

🔴‘Racists Started Hurling Rocks and Abuse at My Family’: New Deputy Green Leader On His Own Experience of Far Right Hate Mothin Ali, co-deputy leader of the Greens, on being on the receiving end of racist abuse and his ‘disappointment’ in Jeremy Corbyn’s new project bylinetimes.com/2025/09/08/r...

Credit to workers and unions taking a stand against Coventry council’s contract with US spy tech firm Palantir for AI ‘solutions’ in children's services, which the council is now reviewing. www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

Once again, reporting on MacAlister and Frontline fails to mention that he co-founded Frontline with Boston Consulting Group - which remains on Frontline’s board - a $multibillion consultancy well known to be involved in deeply unethical activities.… 👇 www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

Coventry council’s decision to use US spy-tech firm Palantir’s AI in social work, Send and children’s services is ALARMING BEYOND BELIEF - here's why... www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-p...

Drawing on timely debates and grounded in empirical evidence, Kalwant Bhopal reveals how #Race continues to shape access to power, opportunity and justice. #WhitePrivilege #CriticalRaceTheory #BLM Publishing next month:

This is a billionaire-funded Tony Blair lobbying project being funnelled unchallenged onto the front page of a national newspaper. 1/

‘AI is here to stay, so we better adopt it’ isn’t a hopeful or empowered position. It’s capitulation in the face of coercion. More hopeful and empowering is to say, ‘let’s slow down on this until we better understand the implications so we can use it well and avoid inadvertent harm’.

I'm tired of being treated like a crank because I want to uphold the integrity of the institution and of education more generally. I'm tired of my opinions, shaped by hours and hours of research, being dismissed because they don't align with what admin already decided they wanted

At my institution we all talk in circles around each other because the AI boosters and the AI critics aren't even speaking the same language and don't have the same worldviews. And none of the conversations matter because admin has already decided that the AI critics are cranks

I'm so tired of hearing that we need to "teach our students how to use AI" when the thing they most need to use it is a critical-thinking skill set that can only be acquired by NOT using it. I'm tired of hearing that it's inevitable. I'm tired.

The BritCard is xenophobic techno-totalitarianism straight out of the fetid imagination of Morgan McSweeney, the unelected, six-figure salaried 'most powerful man in politics' and his shady Labour Together think tank that has totally captured the PLP.

‘We are a global community of education professionals who refuse the call for generative AI (GenAI) adoption in schools and colleges, and reject the narrative of its inevitability.‘ www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

'AI increases what historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt called “institutional thoughtlessness” – the inability to critique instructions or reflect on consequences.' Implications for social work? thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/jun...

England’s state education system in one cartoon…

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education has published a case note and some case summaries relating to AI and academic misconduct. What is clear from the note and summaries is that we educators need to get better at a few things... www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

"Since the dawn of devolution in 1999, Wales has proudly positioned itself as a nation that puts children’s rights at the heart of policy. But for too many babies, children, and young people – especially those in need of extra support – that promise remains unfulfilled."

Rachael Cummings from Save the Children: "The situation is absolutely desperate.. this is the worst its ever been.. there is not enough food.. the water is dirty.. there is open sewage in the streets.. there is nowhere safe.. the overcrowding is extreme.. people are exhausted"

Literally, a solution in search of a problem: OpenAI signs deal with UK to find government uses for its models Welcome to the era of business-led public services. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

“The public sector is viewed as one of the most fertile areas for the implementation of AI” Precisely why social work needs to slow down, exercise caution and remain in control, not be led by eye-catching promises of putative benefits from vested interests. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Beam, maker of the Magic Notes AI currently in 100+ LAs, admits that it could actually lead to MORE work and urges SWers to 'challenge the business case put forward by commissioners for using AI.' All while taking public £££ off the back of those business cases. www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

'Frontline is a children’s charity. Everything we do aims to make life better for children at risk of harm.' thefrontline.org.uk/who-we-are/ Unless you're a child in Gaza- you don't count and it's fine to keep partnering with an org linked to war crimes against you. www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

I get the idea is to provide a light-hearted and accessible take on theory in practice but this is unhelpfully reductionist. Also, the quip that theories are 'helpful... but won't help you find a baby behind a sofa in a crack house' is ill-judged. www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

Is generative AI in social work a 'solution' in search of a problem? www.linkedin.com/posts/christ...

Down The Rabbit Hole Of The Manosphere is just one of over 25 thought-provoking panels at Byline Festival 11-13 July Plus Comedy , Music, Art, Film & Workshops Full programme & tickets (going up soon) bylinefestival.com

Very positive review of Teacher Education in Crisis: The State, the Market and the Universities in England which @joehanley.bsky.social and I have a chapter in: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... The whole book available as a free to access e-book here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?do...

‘MEE asked BCG whether the firm was involved in the security operations to support Gaza Humanitarian Foundation [and] what role it had played with the foundation. BCG directed MEE to its statement from Thursday which did not answer the questions.’ www.middleeasteye.net/news/ex-cia-...

Boston Consulting Group, key backer of @frontlinesw.bsky.social (Approach Social Work) complicit in war crimes. How long are we going to pretend involvement with BCG doesn’t reflect ill on the profession? Students and staff involved with the scheme need to find their voices on this.

‘I had seen the government’s AI-powered revolution first hand. And it was all hooey.’ Clueless ministers touting AI as the future of this country is a cause for concern and does not reassure that they have thought carefully about the implications of this policy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Regulate the hell out of all AI applications. The bubble will burst eventually. Lead by actual innovation, not right wing theft programs.

this sort of "language use" is what the "AI is amazing" crowd would point out as evidence of "AI creativity"

Attending the #ECSWR2025 conference and have a proposal to discuss? Find our stand and speak to our editors, Isobel Bainton and Sarah Bird.

Great thread 👇🏽

Potentially more readable version here

"There is scant recognition of the EXTRA WORK and responsibilities AI social work will bring" (my emphasis) - such a valuable point from @realchristiankerr.bsky.social in @basw-uk.bsky.social PSW Mag. Despite promises to the contrary, tech in social work almost always creates more, not less, work.

As Honest Bob Jenrick tours the country repeating far-right conspiracy talking points about “two-tier sentencing”, here is the letter his own government sent to the Sentencing Council last year approving the very Guidelines he now claims are evidence of “two-tier Keir”. The man is a fraud.

I'm sorry not to see anything in there about rewarding civil servants for developing specialist knowledge or actions to reduce departmental turnover. Feels like a wasted opportunity.

Such a handsome man.

Interesting review of Sam Freedman's Failed State... book by his former GCSE History teacher(!). I particularly appreciated the thoughtful critique of Freedman's tortuous positionality as a key player in the problems he now critically commentates on... 1/ www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/07/29/d...

The financial privilege of sending 4 children to private school, whilst bemoaning that the state school system can’t meet your child’s additional needs, then complaining about increased taxes. That money will help the state sector meet the needs of ALL children with SEN. Not just the rich kids.

‘New poll finds 40% of Britons have not read a book in the past year’ Which book though? www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

Frequent, heavy recreational use—say, several times a week—has been linked to cognitive effects that last beyond the high, including impaired memory, delusional thinking, superstitious beliefs, and a sense of specialness and importance. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

‘The need we all have to feel a sense of belonging battles with the desire to be seen for “who you really are”. But the truth is that knowing “who you really are” is your life’s work, and to solidify that in your young adult phase is restrictive and damaging.’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

'We are expecting our employers to take on full responsibility for any harm that may be caused using AI if procedures and policies were followed correctly.' Lots to like about this statement from the Care Workers Charity: www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk/wp-content/u...