Properly funding the court system would clear the backlog even more quickly. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Thoughts with those protesting in Iran. More than 500 dead, more than 10,000 arrested and people are still on the streets. There are levels of courage which need to be recognised. I just hope, but lack optimism, if this goes bad, even more so, UK et al will ensure any who need asylum can get it.

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

Thinking of writing a fun post about when a major power last annexed a North Atlantic island. Rockall.

There's a really rather cracking adaptation of The Castle of Otranto available on BBC iPlayer right now... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

"Now YOU Can be in the movie..." The third attempt to mainstream D&D and open up to a wider audience, this time in 2000 as 3E released and a movie hit cinema screens. And that meant a new slew of introductory and starter box sets, all with that very particular early 3E art aesthetic.

Why I love Alan Moore...

Six things our readers really want to see change in Wales in 2026 www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n... wot no "small boats" nonsense? real issues - better public transport, educational support.

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…

For the love of whichever higher power may be listening, if you're posting a job advert: ✅ Include the actual salary ✅ If it's "hybrid" say what you expect ✅ Don't bury that you want something highly specific, such as membership of a particular regulatory body, as the last line on the application

This is now heavily updated with texts in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Croatian and Ukrainian, including a number of pieces by South American leftists and anarchists. On Monday, we will publish something similar around the uprising in Iran.

Would absolutely read

So, today marks 10 years since the passing of Bowie. It also marks 10 years since I put something on Twitter about it which resulted in me having to take a day off work, chase down various international media, get blocked by half of Australia, and end up the filling in a Kanye and Madonna sandwich.

"The emphasis must be on sensible risk appraisal, not striving to avoid all risk, whatever the price, [ ] – in particular to achieve the vital good of the elderly or vulnerable person's happiness. What good is it making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable" Vale Sir James Munby.

I am proposing "Welsh-ishness" for the very real phenomenon of "Welsh drama in which the only Welsh actors are side characters", so that I never have to see the abominable word "Welshface" again, diolch and thanciw

🚨The President of the United States turns ICE into his own personal secret police. 🚨ICE agents invade American cities harassing and abusing those living there. 🚨ICE agent murders an innocent woman in cold blood. 📢Fraser Nelson - this is all the fault of migrants. www.thetimes.com/article/989b...

BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!

Well said here.

UNHCR has published their observations on the government's proposed changes to asylum www.unhcr.org/uk/media/unh...

Am I really almost the only classicicist watching the second season of Fallout..? There’s so much reception-y stuff going on! thesphinxblog.com/2026/01/08/h...

Once upon a time there was a case called TwitterJokeTrial and on that case was a defence solicitor (with whom I worked on the appeal) and that defence solicitor had a daughter. And this is what daughter has (righty) to say about Twitter/X now.

🚨More than 100 immigration detainees say they have been physically, verbally and psychologically abused at two immigration removal centres. Those detained under the 'one in, one out' scheme said they would rather take their lives here than be deported to France. bylinetimes.com/2026/01/09/1...

The Lettuce was perfect- it didn't poke fun at her for being a woman, for her looks, for any attribute that wasn't her fault. Simply that she was a shit prime minister. RIP Lettuce.

Hello, Bluesky people. A very niche request. Does anyone have access to the audio interviews between Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles? I am trying and failing to find them, as they include a reference that I need. Any help would be hugely welcome!

Odeon, Swansea Kingsway

to be clear this is the most important part of the newsletter, yes bsky.app/profile/sinu...

I suppose we should be thankful it took as long as it did to get toxic...

Can any #knitters #wool experts help me identify this yarn please? Was from my late mum’s knitting bag and I’d like to get some more to knit a scarf to remind me of her

This signage always cracks me up because you see it and you’re like “who would DO that” and about once a month there’s a headline that the Eurostar is delayed or cancelled because someone had a WWI mortar in their bag

Zoe is 100% right. RW media, their journalists, right wing politicians, anyone who attempts to normalise or sanitise inhumane treatment of individuals is complicit in the crimes. Renee was murdered by a dangerous goon, licensed to kill by Trump. 🙏 read, share this open.substack.com/pub/chadbour...

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.

We're recruiting an Editorial Assistant at @freemovement.bsky.social. Details here: freemovement.org.uk/job-ad-edito...

Pretending not to be in when the Provident lady came round.

Most competently represented LGBTQI+ refugees from Pakistan ought to win their appeals, but a) not everyone can find competent (or any) representation and b) people shouldn’t be put through the stress, delay and sheer terror of having to appeal

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

Ben Wheatley is coming to Chapter in Cardiff with his new film Bulk with a Q&A. Unbelievably I'll be doing the questions and as you can imagine I'm beside myself. Come see me panic in real time 😆 www.chapter.org/whats-on/bul...

Sadly it is official, my current employment contract finishes at the end of March. It has been a fantastic three years at Migrant Voice. If you, or someone you know, knows of job opportunities for an experienced policy, advocacy and comms person, across multiple sectors, please do let me know.

Look, for 2026 I think you should invite me on your podcast, especially if you have any interest in the intersections of horror movies, politics and utopian philosophy.

Pro tip from a historian: if there is water near a place, people will use it to travel there. England is on an island.

He was a great judge. His specialism was family law but he was behind a few classic immigration law judgments too.

I am very sad about this. James Munby was not just clever and driven, he was also funny and kind.

The former headteacher of St Joe’s in Port Talbot - who was jailed for attacking a colleague with a wrench - has spoken of his time in HMP Swansea after being released early on tag. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

Four years since our Home Office funded alternative to detention pilot, Action Access, proved it's more humane and significantly cheaper to support vulnerable women in the community rather than detention centres. How many more years before the Govt accepts that detention harms? tinyurl.com/ec4efer6

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...

Just to back up Anthony as a medievalist, that’s one of the dumbest fucking claims imaginable. There have never NOT been people from continental Europe, Africa, and Asia moving to/ from the British Isles for 2000 years. In early modernity, this included the Americas!

New from FM: The Home Office’s unsafe journeys policy is dangerous | Hamish Dick

It's cold, what's better than having something cosy to listen to. A fascinating essay celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kill List written and read by @scaredsheepless.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/4NaL...

We are Christopher Isherwood, watching the scenes in the Berlin street below from our apartment window above Watching from afar further shifts in a worsening polity By me Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/we-are-chr... Personal Blog: davidallengreen.com/2026/01/we-a...