'Universities across the UK have reported more than 1,000 job losses in the first four months of this year, with the actual number likely to be far higher as institutions continue to roll out cost-saving initiatives.' 1/4

no one is doing it like jd vance, a loser across three continents in a single weekend

I can't stop laughing at this post. It's perfect.

It's me in the Financial Times, detailing the deep and pernicious influence of one-size-fits-all management consultancy in our universities... Take a look! 👇 www.ft.com/content/5032...

This week’s horror is our introductory module, which examines the literature, art, music, dialect, film and TV from the region 1500-2025 being forcibly replaced by an entire ‘success in HE’ module featuring two weeks on how to use AI. I designed my module to incorporate proper study skills…

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The Government will more than double support for the Daphne Jackson Trust from £1.7m to £4m per year, which will help to unlock the talent of many more researchers whose careers have been paused. Find out more in our joint-statement with @ukri.org daphnejackson.org/2026/03/ukri... #ResearchReturners

Congratulations to Professor Ioannis Lianos (UCL Laws), elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences for his contributions at the intersection of law, economics and the social sciences.👏 Find out more: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/ma... #UCLLaws @acadsocsciences.bsky.social

Our #UCL200 celebrations began in spectacular style last week with the 75th Bentham Association Presidential Address and Dinner. 🎤 🥳 Prof Sir John Baker KC delivered an inspiring Address on ‘Sovereignty of Parliament and Legal History’. 🔗 Read more: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/20...

In which people CHOOSE TO VOTE for a female plumber representing a party with broadly liberal values and an unelected life peer declares it to be the end of liberal democracy.

Well, the plumber fixed the drip

Turns out (says @jburnmurdoch.ft.com) it's not so much an oversupply of graduates in the UK (the same would be true of other similar countries but it's not) as an undersupply of the kind of jobs that a better-performing, more productive economy would supply.

‘Although I am no longer in a position to carry out much work myself, my legacy is still very much alive and well. UCL's Faculty of Laws is home to the Bentham Project … in existence since 1959, with the aim of publishing a definitive scholarly edition of my writings and correspondence.’

Just found out about Tap Social and placed an order. An unexpected benefit of presenting a paper to colleagues on work in prison and post-release. Thanks @timcauser.bsky.social! Great initiative to support prisoners and prison leavers. tapsocialmovement.com

There is now author access to my co-written article on curating programmes around historic eugenics @royalsociety.org I did this work 10+ years ago. It is tragic that eugenic ideas moved to the mainstream, in part due to a fellow of my publisher - the RS 🤷🏻‍♀️ royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/article...

Today, UCL turns 200. 🎉 For two centuries, our community has opened doors, challenged convention and pushed the boundaries of knowledge across every discipline. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the UCL story, here’s to the next century. ✨ #UCL200 #LoveUCL

Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC. Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

BREAKING NEWS: We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that the Southbank Centre - the Hayward Gallery, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall and skaters undercroft - has finally been Grade II listed by DCMS after a 35 year long campaign. ➡️ c20society.org.uk/news/southba...

Coming soon from UCL Press (@uclpress.bsky.social), 'The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham, Volume 14: Supplementary Letters', edited by P. Schofield, T. Causer, and C. Riley. ✉️📖 ft. 252 letters written to/from Bentham, and 19 others of biographical interest: uclpress.co.uk/book/the-cor...

On the journal blog, author Steven Sverdlik discusses his two articles: Bentham’s Utilitarian Penal Code journals.uclpress.co.uk/jbs/news/146/

First in a series, I fear www.theguardian.com/environment/...

(soon to be) not even a real fish

rome statute of the international criminal court, article 8bis: crime of aggression

Not just a national asset but an international asset. Trashed, ignored, diminished.

The death of Dr Paul Ayris is huge loss to UCL, to @uclpress.bsky.social and to the open access/scholarly communications community more broadly. His open access Thomas Cranmer’s Register A record of archiepiscopal administration in diocese and province is published by the Press in January. 1/2

'An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Russell Group university “does not have appropriate arrangements in place” for managing workplace stress and was unable to demonstrate that it is managing the risks associated with excessive workloads.' 1/2

Oh hey it finally made the media, only a week after the letter was actually sent. FWIW despite being legally obliged to share with all staff, he so far hasn't. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/birming...

25 years gone and still no justice youtu.be/FD-CJnDMcv4?...

Had reason to look up info about early submarining, and discovered that the newsletter of the Submariners' Association is called 'In Depth'. Excellent work, everyone

Excellent news www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

British Academy's pioneering 'cold spots' work now replicated by HESA. 'University "cold spots" are developing in some parts of the country, new data analysis suggests, with courses in some subjects no longer available to students in certain regions.' 1/2

Hooray! The British Library has just released a beta version of its rebuilt Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue: searcharchives.bl.uk 2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️

In #colonial New South Wales, there was no elected parliament. Instead, public dinners were held and toasts were made to demonstrate political support – or dissent 🔒 Matthew Allen’s new article is available in the archive www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

Five years ago today since this little guy arrived from the RSPCA

Published today - 'Essays on Logic, Ethics, and Universal Grammar' edited by Philip Schofield, the latest volume of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham Available in hardback, paperback, and as a free open-access PDF from UCL Press: uclpress.co.uk/book/essays-...

Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'

And the cherry on top is that the sign is back, too

Scotland’s First Minister addresses the nation

Aye, and now we're going to win it! youtu.be/opsudWaeNqk?...

Finnur Dellsén got a nice pic of me on my standard Q&A slide, so now I have a stock reply to any time anyone disagrees with me.

If you want a sneak peek at my forthcoming book, Temperance Lives: Life Assurance, Drink and Medicine in Britain, 1840-1918, you can read part of the introduction and check out the contents and indexes with this widget bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/690c7... @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social

Thought lost when it closed in 2017, the Jeremy Bentham pub on University Street has risen from the ashes

Professor Philip Schofield has written an appreciation of the late Professor William Twining's scholarship, as well as his invaluable contribution to Bentham studies and the work of the Bentham Project. All here send their condolences to William's family and friends. www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/profess...

Don’t miss UCL Laws' Quain Lectures in Jurisprudence with Professor Seana Shiffrin @law.ucla.edu – a rare opportunity to hear one of the world’s leading legal and moral philosophers live in London. 📅 20–24 October | 🏛️ UCL Laws 🎟️ Free to attend – book now: buff.ly/pi9UWE4

Started at UCL Laws 15 years ago today. Who knows where the time goes (and increasingly goes)...

Spent many (many!) hours pulling legal explanations and apologies from lawyers who were caught using AI that hallucinated in which they explained to a judge why they used AI. The explanations are astonishing and extremely good: www.404media.co/18-lawyers-c...

"For... interesting holidays". Something about the spookily lit trees in the foreground makes this feel like the kind of poster you'd catch sight of on a mildewed wall in the early minutes of an MR James adaptation. (SMG: collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co23...)

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐

We need more in-depth reporting on UK university finances like this. Research , research funding and their relation to teaching and teaching funding could do with a similar level of detail. Here's a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers: on.ft.com/3ImSMWa