The Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee has published its report on visits to prisons and Police custody in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 They highlight prison overcrowding as a critical issue that needs to be addressed. They praise Scotland ending jailing of under 18s. 🔗 #HumanRights www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/n...

Anyone else have an issue with accessing the chat here? It looks like I have some messages there, but when I click on ‘chat’ I get a ‘Whoops’ message, and logging out and in wont fix it… 🤷‍♂️. @bsky.app

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sara Snell, and Jacqueline Clinton from HMIPS are giving evidence to Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee on prisons. It is welcome and timely they get to do this before recess. 1/🧵 #prison #CrimSky @parliament.scot www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/crim...

We must stand with New Scots in the face of division and hate www.thenational.scot/politics/262...

Enduring lesson: when given a choice between their immediate comfort and frying their children‘s future in oil or a habitable future, people chose to burn their kids’ future. Other choices are vital and must be presented as such even if its already way too late. #AberdeenSouth

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

Politicians who fanned these flames should hang their heads in shame. Time and again we've seen this story play out. Single incidents used to fuel a far right narrative - and communities across the nation paying the price.

Again and again and again researchers, activists and people who work to enable communities to live well and peacefully together had warned and offered clear, practical steps. *Last year* I spoke at length of this with @neilmackay.bsky.social It will get worse without action

I've called on the UK government to step up to its legal and moral obligation to stop ALL arms sales and military support to Israel. This is a crucial step towards accountability and justice. #StopArmingIsrael www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved...

🆕️ journal article by @fergusmcneill.bsky.social, Lucy Cathcart Frödén, @philcrockettthomas.bsky.social, @oliverescobar.bsky.social, @alisonurie.bsky.social, Jo Collinson Scott Making Light of Imprisonment: Humour, Connection and Resistance #Criminology #CrimSky journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

This New Yorker cartoon is accurate but a gut punch.

A lovely write up about our new book of Poetry @uofgunescorila.bsky.social iona.org.uk/cloth-as-mem...

Seems entirely sensible to me. Much more so than sending our money (and our people) overseas, as per one of the other party’s idiotic proposal for (mis)managing the prisons crisis. 🤔

International law - the whole edifice; all of diplomacy; and every comma in the American constitution are failing in this abject and absolute triumph of necropolitics with impunity. Every last sinew of diplomacy must now be strained. UK airspace must be closed to US military. Immediately.

As of end‑December 2025, Ethiopia hosted an estimated 1.12 million refugees and asylum‑seekers, primarily from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan. There are no safe or legal routes to U.K. who have cut overseas aid again to host countries of refugees

Looking forward to speaking at this SASO event as a Commissioner in the independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission. 📆 5:45pm, Tuesday 21st April. 🏫 Venue: St George's Tron, Buchanan St, Glasgow. 🎟 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-prison... #Criminology #CrimSky #Law #SocialWork #Decarceration

UK is now refusing entry to students from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Cameroon and Sudan because it now calls their right to claim asylum ‚an abuse‘. This contravenes the Refugee Convention.

The successful candidate to this part-time Research Associate post will be working in a research team of wonderful people/academics: @bethweaver.bsky.social @nicolacarr.bsky.social @jakephillips.bsky.social @fergusmcneill.bsky.social Sarah Doxat-Pratt, Jan Flaherty, and me! [2/2]

For some this is literally a death sentence- they know this. We have repeatedly furnished the evidence and reports. This is what ideological hate looks and sounds like - wearing a suit and elected but without anything but ‘Change’ in the manifesto and NONE of this far right agenda embrace

One final song to wrap up our tour of A Giant on the Bridge. This is Bars and Multicoloured Chairs - written by Alana Moore, Louis Abbott & Phil Crockett Thomas. 🪑 See you tomorrow Skye! 🙌 #livemusic #gig #theatre #scottishtheatre #musicvideo

On BBC Radio and TV today (Breakfast, DriveTime, Reporting Scotland, News at Seven), Fiona Stalker has an important story about women on remand in prison, awaiting trial. On Breakfast, just after 7 am, I discussed these issues with her. We need to reduce use of remand. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Dear Home Secretary, People get on boats to cross the Channel because they love their families, because the separations - like those we all went through hell with under Lockdown - are killing them. Because living without the one’s you love is unendurable. That’s it. 1/

Scotland has a new Human Rights Tracker. This online tool allows you to explore recommendations made by six UN #HumanRights treaty bodies and filter by theme, human rights issue, affected group. Mentioning it because not many know about it; it isn't being posted on here. humanrightstracker.gov.scot

🖕Fuck It Button written by Gus Bear and Donna Maciocia Another taste of the music from A Giant on the Bridge, this song centred around the characters D and June. Played by Dave Hook and Jill O’Sullivan. #livemusic #gig #musicvideo #theatre #scotland

🌟 New 4.5 star review just dropped for A Giant on the Bridge. “Deeply emotional and slightly mad, this is a performance which stands out from the rest“ Read the full review below 👇

Very glad to share this critical reflection from our own @nasarmeer.bsky.social; out now with @politicshome.bsky.social.

Out now by our own @susan-batchelor.bsky.social and Caitlin Gormley, ‘Reframing repeat violence: A critical life-course perspective’, British Journal of Criminology. Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

When violence unfolds across multiple relationships and contexts, incident-based systems struggle to recognise how harms accumulate. New article: ‘Reframing Repeat Violence: A Critical Life-Course Perspective’, British Journal of Criminology. Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

The article develops a qualitative typology highlighting different configurations of repeat violence, including: • unsettled lives • mutual violence • intermittent victimisation Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

Our analysis shifts attention away from linear life-course trajectories towards the relational conditions through which harm is produced, recognised and sustained over time. Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

Rather than treating repeat violence as incident frequency or individual risk, we analyse it as a cumulative, relational process shaped by inequality and institutional response. Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

The research also highlights the role of institutions - including how misrecognition and marginalisation shape access to safety and support. Open access: academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

🖊 BLOG: As a Commissioner in the Sentencing & Penal Policy Commission 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, I've written a blog on 'What we learn from listening to people who have been through our Justice system.' Lived experience helped to inform our report. 🔗 Guest blog @sacroscotland.bsky.social www.sacro.org.uk/post/what-we...

📣 The first of our two performances at Capital Theatres, Studio Theatre has sold out! Edinburgh, just over a week until we see you! 🌉 www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/a-gian... #theatre #livemusic #edinburgh #scotland #gig

We are very pleased to let you know that the latest entry in the Sociological & Cultural Studies blog series has just been published. In 'Away From the Faeries' @fergusmcneill.bsky.social asks what an old Scottish folktale might have to tell us about the meaning of rehabilitation. Please share.

Cover of The Lancet: @thelancet.com www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

What a brilliant opening night for A Giant on the Bridge. Hear what our audience members had to say. 🧡 We’re touring across Scotland until the end of March: www.ktproducing.co.uk/giant #livemusic #theatre #scotland #gig #scottishtheatre

📣 Opening night for A Giant on the Bridge Acoustic songwriting, bold storytelling, Scottish hip-hop and more. Here’s a small taste of what to expect. 👉 Two nights in Glasgow only: 25-26 Feb cottiers.com/event/a-gian... #livemusic #glasgow #theatre #gig #scottishtheatre

Here’s a sneak peek of the track ‘Everything’s Spherical’ written by Matthew & Jo Mango. 👀 Performed by: Louis Abbott Jo Mango Dave Hook Jill O’Sullivan Kim Grant #livemusic #gig #theatre #scottishtheatre #musicvideo

🎶 We sat down with Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow) to find out more about the different types of music you can experience in A Giant on the Bridge. Two days to go - Cottiers, Glasgow cottiers.com/event/a-gian... #livemusic #gig #theatre #scotland #glasgow

📣 In just one week, A Giant on the Bridge tour kicks off at Cottiers, Glasgow. Director Liam Hurley walks us through the space where we’ll be transforming it into something really magical. ✨ Glasgow, book your tickets: cottiers.com/event/a-gian... #livemusic #gig #theatre #glasgow #scotland

New research from the @glasgow.ac.uk explores how recent UK Supreme Court rulings are reshaping the limits of devolved law-making in Scotland and beyond, and what this means for parliamentary powers and cooperation. Read more on the #SocSciHub: tinyurl.com/yj4fz7my

First day of rehearsals and we’re off.☺️ The A Giant on the Bridge team were back in the studio today, bringing the show to life ahead of our tour opening next week at Cottiers, Glasgow. #livemusic #gig #theatre #scotland

We caught up with one of our performers, Jill O’Sullivan as they prepare to take A Giant on the Bridge out on the road this month. 🎸 Opening at Cottiers, Glasgow Feb 25th 2026 Browse our full Scottish tour dates: www.ktproducing.co.uk/giant #theatre #livemusic #gig #scotland

STV News story on our independent Sentencing & Penal Policy Commission report to reduce the prison population and change Scottish Justice. It's heartening to see First Minister @johnswinney.bsky.social call our work "well considered and thoughtful" #Sentencing #Criminology youtu.be/nyC1gwUwWAA?...

Every year in Scotland 10,000 people return home from prison to an uncertain future 🌉 A Giant on the Bridge fuses acoustic songs, Scottish hip-hop and powerful storytelling. Touring Glasgow | St Andrews | Ullapool | Aberdeen | Inverness | Ayr | Greenock | Edinburgh | Stirling | Birnam | Skye

📣 In less than a month we’ll be out on the road bringing A Giant on the Bridge to audiences across Scotland. 🗓️ Have you got your tickets yet? #livemusic #scotland #gig #theatre #scottishtheatre

We're absolutely delighted to share the news that our dear colleague Prof. Bridget Fowler is this year's recipient of the @britsoci.bsky.social Distinguished Service Award. The very definition of a worthy winner...

☺️ Two years ago at Edinburgh Fringe, audiences shared why A Giant on the Bridge stayed with them. Book now and experience it for yourself live across Scotland next month! 🎶 www.ktproducing.co.uk/giant #Theatre #Gig #Scotland #LiveMusic #ScottishTheatre

Spotted around Glasgow! 👀 We’ll be sharing some behind the scenes of A Giant on the Bridge in the coming weeks as we start preparing to head out on the road. 🚘 Browse your nearest venue: www.ktproducing.co.uk/giant Design by Paul Stapleton #LiveMusic #Theatre #Scotland #Gig #ScottishTheatre