A very excellent thread. Call things what they are. It’s important.

Wrote this for @migrantvoice.bsky.social on hostility of this government's changes to immigration rules for "earned settlement". We hear politicians talk about "British values", "integration" and "fairness". Labour destroys any concept of all three with its treatment of migrants through this policy.

Once again, people demanding an “open debate” on things we’ve been forced to debate for fucking ages are simply demanding the right to be vile and bigoted without pushback

If no one hears from me again, it’s because I spent time helping 3 separate people last week who all had terrible colds and I seem to have picked up all of their germs and they’ve combined to form a sort of super cold and I don’t think I’m gonna make it. Tell my family I love them ⚰️

How to tell a real Christian from a fake-ass JD Vance pretender: ask them about their stance on immigration. I’m not what you’d call a hardcore believer these days, but I can say for certain that the values I live by now are profoundly linked to my Catholic upbringing.

Do they understand how mad they sound? As if anyone has ever decided to cross the Channel in a small boat because, if they make it, they might get to take a free taxi to a doctor's appointment? "Pull factors" on steroids. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Labour is creating a vulnerable migrant underclass @zoejardiniere.bsky.social

How do I convince Spotify that, no, I don’t like generic male indie singer-songwriters and don’t want to fill my ‘for you’ playlist with them. I just really like Sam Fender, okay? He’s the exception, not the rule! Stop trying to make me listen to Noah Kahan!

"They don’t just delay settlement, they delay recovery. They delay stability. They delay family life. They delay healing. They delay dignity." A brilliant explanation of everything that's wrong with the horrifying 'earned settlement plans': righttoremain.org.uk/if-you-are-l... "

The paperback's here! Lighter in weight, lighter on your wallet, with an update to boot. Wild that it's been out in the world for nine months. Best thing I've ever done (professionally, certainly!). Out 12 March, pre-orders wherever you usually get your books. 🧡

The UK version of “Project 2025” by the Reform party includes a British ICE, a concentration camp for 24,000 people, mass surveillance and withdrawing from refugee, anti-torture and anti-trafficking conventions. It’s on their website. That’s how comfortable fascists are in the UK today.

A week and a bit into the job search, so obviously going to keep re-upping this. Pretty sure that this is the worst time of year to be looking for jobs in my area, but if you are looking for a Comms, policy, advocacy person, or know someone who is, please do let me know or share. 1/4

Whether Labour or Tory, the approach to immigration is policy-making by headline rather than by speaking, let alone listening, to experts who understand the human and practical consequences of ever crueller and counter-productive immigration laws.

"Congratulations, we are cutting migration. But we have persistently high NHS waiting lists, a shortage of social care, collapsing universities, missed housebuilding targets, lower economic growth and higher taxes." My new column for @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/opinion/fall...

During the passage of every piece of new immigration legislation since the NABA 2022, those of us who work with survivors of trafficking have told the government again and again that they will cause greater harm to survivors and embolden traffickers. They ignored us. Now we’re seeing the proof.

Long delays in the tribunals are one of the greatest areas of anxiety for my young people at the moment. Having non-legally trained people making the decisions, likely adding more and more cases to the more complex UT, is only going to make the stress of the whole system even worse.

Prescriptions for ADHD medication being invalidated if you don’t pick them up within a set (relatively short) timeframe is the absolute devil’s work.

It would be good if the dehumanising and abusive way migrants still get treated in the UK got even half the coverage and attention as what is happening under Trump in the States bylinetimes.com/2026/01/09/1...

Every time I say that the Home Office is the most anti-family government department in the UK, this is what I mean.

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...

Every single one of these deaths was preventable. Safe routes save lives. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Yet again, evidence shows that the government’s persecution of migrants is based on lies. The government must stop this performative cruelty against survivors of modern slavery: provide safe routes and safeguard those fleeing exploitation. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

No shit Sherlock

Our dedicated and inspirational Managing Director, Naomi, has decided it is time to hand the baton to someone new. 📣 We're looking for our next Managing Director, to build on the work that has come before, and to lead Social Workers Without Borders into our next phase.

70,000 cases is roughly 90,000 people - some of whom will be stuck in asylum accommodation while waiting for their appeal to be processed. Taking into account withdrawals, around 6 in 10 appeals are now successful.

I’m so ambivalent about cases being withdrawn before appeal hearings. On the one hand, it’s good for the Home Office to recognise its mistakes and rectify them without going to a hearing. On the other, decisions are often withdrawn sometimes as little as a week before the hearing. By that point… 🧵

Last year I was in Chicago and I made some sort of a joke to a taxi driver about loutish teenagers being largely harmless and he responded with a story from a week earlier about ducking behind his car during a shootout. The idea that London is more dangerous than any given US city is madness.

‘Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official, at least 70 are children… On average, Israeli weapons now kill seven people a day’ www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Challenging misinformation around migration is essential right now, so please support @migrantvoice.bsky.social who do a brilliant job of giving clear, evidenced info.

If somebody had to travel 250 miles for a medical appointment then yes there’s a problem but the taking a taxi ain’t it

Dismal framing. Every aspect of most asylum seekers’ lives is controlled & paid for by the Home Office. They can’t work, are told where to live & have no autonomy or dignity. So they aren’t *choosing* to use taxis & don’t need to be “banned” from doing so. The HO just needs to get its act in order.

So the Home Office, which is responsible for the welfare of asylum seekers & for determining their claims, has decided to call them “illegal migrants” & tell everyone it’s “furious” about them being here, but I’m sure this is fine and not a symptom of a culture of disbelief & gratuitous cruelty

So how exactly are they meant to get to them? Many are placed in areas without accessible transport links. They can't afford to pay for journeys themselves because of how little support they get. Yet again Labour choosing to pander to Reform than think of consequences. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

At least 160,000 people have been granted refugee status over the past five years. It now seems they are intended to be caught by the Government’s plans to make refugees wait up to 20 years for settlement - even for those just months away from ILR www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...

"Instead of looking at the decade and a half of underfunding of public services, we're being told that the people coming in are the problem". #Asylum #shabanamahmood @laurenhstarkey.bsky.social & SohailJannesari @goldbergradio.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social podfollow.com/byline-podca...

Incredibly kind words but, for what it’s worth, if you ever see me on TV or hear me on the radio and think I did a good job, you should know I probably messaged @danielsohege.bsky.social right beforehand to ask for advice. They’re truly one of the smartest, kindest and most generous people out there

Mahmood: REFUGEES TO BE PROHIBITED FROM HAVING FUN FOR 20 YEARS

I’ve tapped the sign a thousand times, but here I explained once again that the government saying Albania is safe doesn’t mean it would actually be safe for families to be sent back. Edi Rama is right to challenge Mahmood on her discriminatory singling out of one community.

This isn't new, Mahmood is just the latest in an increasingly long line of Home Secretary's, and others, to actively stereotype and dehumanise Albanians in the UK. It is rhetoric which has actively worsened the situation for many trafficking victims. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

🔴Shabana Mahmood’s Asylum Plans Will Put Human Trafficking Victims at Risk, Warn Anti-Slavery Groups Leading anti-slavery organisations have told Byline Times that the new measures could allow trafficking and forced labour to thrive bylinetimes.com/2025/11/19/s...

What will it take for this government to stop playing games with people’s lives? When these plans were trailed over the weekend, we were able to reassure our young people that they wouldn’t apply to anyone already here. Now, we’re told they WILL apply retroactively.

I made an appearance on Talk TV last night and discussed the idea of a “safe country” and why safety is something only individuals can decide, not government policymakers. (Spoiler alert: we’re talking about designated safe countries, so you know I’ll be talking about Albania)

“It’s a policy that doesn’t account for the reality of human experience and the reality of what people go through that forces them to need to leave their country.” @laurenhstarkey.bsky.social talks #Asylum with @goldbergradio.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social podfollow.com/byline-times...

I spoke to @goldbergradio.bsky.social for the @bylinetimes.bsky.social podcast yesterday about Shabana Mahmood’s new asylum proposals and the Labour’s government’s incredibly bleak, uncharitable view of the British public.

Asylum Control? Or Cruelty? Reaction to #ShabanaMahmood migration plan with Sohail Jannesari and Lauren Starkey @goldbergradio.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social podfollow.com/byline-times...

Everyone understands who is most happy about this, and why they are.

This Govt has yet again failed to learn that performative cruelty neither reduces the number of people who need protection nor appeases those driven by hate. People fleeing for their lives need stability and security to rebuild, especially after being forced to leave behind everything they know.

For fairly obvious reasons when people flee their countries of origin to seek asylum elsewhere they can't carry much. Often things like jewellery are all they have to hold onto. This isn't just stripping people of "assets", it is stealing their memories. 57/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Just so we're clear, Labour has an absolutely ludicrous majority - when they do horrible shit, it's because they want to; nobody is making them.