Hussein Haseeb Ahmed sought safety here. Instead, he was held at 'squalid' Manston, where he contracted diphtheria. He died aged 31. Hussein is one of far too many who've lost their lives to our hostile asylum system. We have to do better. #KnowTheirNames

I’m just doing my best to say things clearly guys (Decoder with the CEO of Razer -> www.theverge.com/podcast/8633...)

Interesting: Home Office officials tell PAC today they are introducing an 'asylum system board' with participants from DHCLG & DoJ to enable joined-up working I recommended this approach in my report for @carladenyer.bsky.social so it's good to see some progress zoegardner.net/assets/no_wa...

lol the NYT didn’t have to wait until the goons took to the streets, The Verge ran this package in 2022 www.theverge.com/c/23055922/h...

Ministers and PM are choosing to lie about this and adopting the conspiracy based language of far right and openly nazi web forums in doing so. They're not just paving the way for a Reform win, they are rolling the pitch for mass deportations of ethnic minorities.

a non-zero number of pasty-faced ICE goons who are fully ancestry dot com-pilled about being like .0002% Irish will have their day sincerely, authentically ruined by this knowledge, and that makes it so beautiful to me

Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The PM refers to an experiment in "open borders" by a Govt. that LEFT THE EU. It can only mean "there are still too many black and brown people in this country, we need to get rid of them". And the best person to do that is Nigel Farage. PM might as well run a "don't vote me" campaign.

I’m concerned the government may be trying to nobble a court it doesn’t like. Here are a few thoughts on the proposed reorganisation of immigration appeals, in addition to Colin’s very useful thread below. 1/ (All screenshots in this thread from the letter posted by Colin.)

I have a question for MPs. How old were they when they first got on the internets. Be it forums, social media, etc.. My second question would be, what did you do as a teenager for fun? In terms of places to hang out with other youth. What was available to them. (especially the MPs who are under 40.)

Yep. This is what we work in. And you'll note the jury system didn't cause a delay here. Or, in reality, practically ever. Crap buildings, lack of courtrooms, sitting judges, legal professionals, CPS staff, police staff and training...

So the best way to make the British public feel the asylum system is under control is to overnight create a visible increase in homeless/rough sleeping asylum seekers. That will work really well politically I'm sure. And not dangerous given the rise in violent fascism. news.sky.com/story/asylum...

The latest tribunal stats showed that between July and Sep last year a third of appeals were disposed of because the Home Office were withdrawing their initial decision ahead of a hearing, presumably because it wouldn't have been defendable www.gov.uk/government/s...

"continue" to have access to justice indicates that people currently have this. Which I can very much assure you is not the case. committees.parliament.uk/publications...

The informal economy where undocumented migrants & asylum seekers find work despite idiotic restrictions is larger in France than the UK. It is larger in every other European country that also have ID than the UK. The idea you can work more easily in the UK is a lie. #r4today

‘However, sources familiar with internal discussions have told PoliticsHome that one change under consideration within government is introducing the Right To Work element of the scheme as optional in 2029, before potentially making it mandatory later down the line.’

People often assume there's a right and wrong way to present data in a chart or graphic. But there are many legitimate choices that can mean a telling different stories with the same data. Data viz guru Andy Kirk @visualisingdata.com shared more wisdom with me this week on the podcast this week 📊🔊

Editorial assistant job going with @freemovement.bsky.social ⤵️

The narrative about London crime is truly so BORING to Londoners. Those of us who walk & travel around our city safely every day, every night. The likeliest daily risk to Londoners is of being ripped off by our landlord or somewhere charging us £4.50 for a coffee. #r4today

cannot stress enough that they are abducting legal observers left and right and people are hearing about this happening to other people and still immediately going “alright where can i go to help now”

95% of my television diet is Anthony Bourdain, whose journey from jaded cynic to slightly less jaded world citizen happened entirely in public

It won't, because delays aren't caused by juries and the proposals won't fix a crumbling criminal justice system. But who are they speaking to?! What imaginary voter wants to give up a core civic right, held for centuries, for the promise of jam in a decade? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The EAT has allowed an appeal by Latin American seasonal farm workers to proceed, after it was struck out for missing a tribunal deadline. The workers, supported by @uvwunion.bsky.social , argued it is unjust and irrational to expect undocumented workers in crisis to navigate complex legal systems

I BEG every smug commentator who praised Mahmood for doing the “tough but necessary thing” to read this. All the disadvantages of plummeting immigration for the economy & public services, for NO POLITICAL GAIN. Labour in DESPERATE need of a 180 change of course on immigration

well well well

Some musing from me on AI and publishing. I’m surprised our page views have gone up not down over the last year. There’s surely going to be huge upheaval in the online content space and in how potential customers find lawyers - if they still do…

Anecdotally, I feel like the quality of Home Office country reports has shifted since the notorious Rwanda one back in 2022, when there was obvious political interference. The executive summaries increasingly look political and unjustified by the evidence.

ENOUGH www.theverge.com/policy/85990...

If you wonder why so many people get refused asylum and have to appeal, one reason is that the Home Office do weaselly things like this with the evidence about risks on return, with the apparent intention of encouraging its staff to refuse entirely meritorious claims

New from Free Movement: Free Movement review of 2025 | Colin Yeo freemovement.org.uk/free-movemen...

British woman left stranded in Hungary after the Home Office refuse to let her bring 13-year-old niece to the UK. The girl, who was abandoned by her parents, could now end up in state care, following the Home Office's decision bylinetimes.com/2026/01/08/b...

Strong stuff from the Chancellor 💪🏻 One slight prob: her gov's NRPF policy (which restricts access to MOST benefits not just UC & which they're planning to extend to those w/ ILR) does precisely this: discriminates between children based on where parents are from www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

So sad to hear about this. Richard was one of the first people I met and worked with on migration and he was such a lovely person. Donate to Hummingbird Project in his memory, they are a brilliant organisation.

It is very simple. One has simply to attain balance between the five humours: blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile, and slop.

A longer post from me to start the year: the Dutch are panicking. Their digital ID system will soon fall under the control of an American company and far-reaching US government powers. Why is that such a problem? And what does it mean for the UK? open.substack.com/pub/georgina...

Last year I FOI -d the UK Govt to ask if they'd assessed whether continued use of X as a formal communications channel was appropriate. Responding in Oct, DSIT said: no, try asking the Cabinet Office. Responding in Nov, the Cabinet Office said: no, try asking DSIT.

From today, new immigration offences give the UK government even more power to criminalise and imprison people crossing the Channel in dinghies. Read an overview of the changes from @vickytaylor.bsky.social ⤵️ blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/border-crimi...

I know RUK ignores NI, but surely there should be more public horror and indignation about the fact that not 6 months ago part of the UK saw a pogrom that drove an ethnic group (the Roma) out of a sizeable town

you’re right! it feels mostly awful to Go Online™, these days. the internet in a sad state, for reason after reason after reason. but there is a way to fix it; to trade the voidful howling for a quiet & joyful song. here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.

2025 in the UK in a nutshell, folks: some of the country's most odious racists, who also never shut up about free speech & the right to offend, calling for a man from a racialised minority to have his citizenship cancelled over alleged racist speech, while the media dutifully jots it all down

Not enough people are paying attention to the schisms in Anglicanism, a religion that largely hides in plain sight in the UK. But the ugliness exposed by the appointment of the new Archbish — the hostility of parishes who were previously still opting out of women priests — will only get worse.

Tommy Robinson carol service is really just the beginning of the CoE’s coming crisis, in which they’re going to have to figure out what to do about their former congregations becoming radicalised into a version of the faith that is aggressive, disavows empathy and has contempt for the weak

🎺🎺The @CalaisAppeal fundraiser just hit £20,000!!!!!🥳🤩🤩 This is amazing! They’re so close to reaching their goal 😭🙏🥰 Thank you so much everyone, let’s make it happen for them! www.justgiving.com/campaign/tog...

Everyone sat around talking about how these people were incredibly stupid and then they managed to successfully implement large swathes of the plan that they all told us they were going to execute and you really have to wonder who is the stupid in this equation

This is wholly unsurprising but absolutely appalling. This is like concluding a coin always lands on heads because every time it lands on tails you discard the result. And, I am afraid, yet again, this is a symptom of volunteer Magistrates just not getting it.

The immigration hostile environment encourages overzealous over enforcement because there is no penalty in that direction. But there are severe penalties for under enforcement.

🤩More than £16,000 raised now for @calaisappeal.bsky.social!! You guys are so amazing! Please do share the link with anybody who might be able to donate this Christmas to help the people freezing at our border 🥰🥰🥰🥰

They are really doing a fantastic job at an awful time.

"May"? Helpful reminder that this is the country which Labour is touting as an example for its own anti-immigration policies. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Genuinely one of the worst articles ive ever read. I had to walk out of the room after I read this part