There are only 7 days left to have your say about the government’s changes to earned settlement. 📖 Our guide breaks down the different questions, what they mean, and ways that you can answer. Please take the opportunity to share your voice. Consultation closes on 12 Feb. gmiau.org/gmiau-guide-...

"The UK economy would be 3.6% smaller by 2040 if net migration fell to zero, forcing the government to raise taxes to combat a much bigger budget deficit, a thinktank has predicted." www.theguardian.com/business/202...

🌆LAG Introduction to #HousingLaw Online Training🌆 You are invited to our four-part series taking place between 5pm-7pm on 17th, 19th, 25th & 26th March. Delivered by expert practitioners, it's one not to miss! 🎟️Sign up here➡️ swiy.co/housing_intro_26

"Households on the lowest incomes were still experiencing a cost of living crisis four years on, with millions of people forced to go without food, falling behind on household bills and having to borrow to survive, said JRF." www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

GMLC is proud to be the Manchester Law Society's President's Charity for 2026. Read more in the Manchester Messenger here: legalrss.co.uk/themessenger...

This is hopeful for anyone worried about the effect of the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling on trans rights. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

"[T]he incorrect decision to withdraw her enhanced daily living allowance and the method of communication of the decision significantly contributed to her declining mental health and her actions on 18th May 2025 which led to her death on 20th May 2025." www.msn.com/en-gb/news/n...

⭐We’re incredibly proud to share our Impact Report 2025. It captures what we’ve achieved over the past year supporting people through the UK’s immigration system during a time of growing hostility. You'll also hear from people we've supported directly about the difference we've made to their lives

A brilliant dark comedy about applying for disability benefits. Getting PIP is no small feat! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnm8...

💥NEED TO KNOW 📚Rosie Fox & Keith Coughtrie (@pilc-campaigns.bsky.social) on what #HousingLaw lawyers need to know about supporting Gypsy & Traveller clients & why local authority homelessness processes should not be your first port of call. ✈️ 📖 In 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯➡ hi.switchy.io/lIR9

This week, we launched our campaign for the provision of welfare rights advice to become a statutory duty. Join us! www.nawra.org.uk/about-nawra/...

'Our Side of the Story' Created by the Greater Manchester Asylum Hotels Group and Stand & Be Counted Theatre, this short film features people with lived experience of asylum hotels. The group is supported by us, and the film presents a spoken version of a statement they shared a few months ago.

The real-terms freeze in Legal Aid rates for decades has led to many professionals in the sector quitting - or being dramatically underpaid for their skillset compared to their privately-funded opponents. Access to justice needs equality of arms. www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...

In October 2025, the government finally passed the long-awaited Renters Rights Act, which will significantly reform housing in England and Wales, especially the private rented sector. Below, GMLC campaign volunteer Vankie Ma and Brocho Nemetsky discuss. www.gmlaw.org.uk/2026/01/15/w...

Do you support people with no recourse to public funds or limited access to mainstream accommodation? Here are the details for our FREE upcoming training sessions for Jan-March 2026. Want to sign up? 🔗 Follow this link (also in bio!) gmiau.org/help-and-adv...

Wait times for disability benefits have officially hit 'unacceptable' levels. Nearly half of PIP claims miss processing targets. Our dysfunctional welfare system is needlessly pushing disabled people into poverty.

Happy new year from GMLC. @nawra.bsky.social is calling upon UK governments to introduce a statutory duty to provide social welfare advice, available equally to all who need it and free at the point of delivery. www.nawra.org.uk/about-nawra/...

After a lengthy period getting through the final stages, the Employment Rights Bill is set to become law. Acas has helpfully summarised the changes to people's employment rights, and when they will come in. Check if these will affect you now! www.acas.org.uk/employment-r...

GMLC will close for a break this winter at 5pm on 23/12/25, and re-open at 9am on 2/01/26. Thank you to everyone we have worked with and for this year.

Restoring the 'move-on period' for refugees to be evicted from their Home Office to 56 days is a good thing. This should be a permanent change. It won't affect those refugees already rough-sleeping: bigger policy change is needed to solve this problem. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Recently, we’ve received outstanding recognition for our pro bono work, particularly for our eVisa support sessions and the Windrush Legal Initiative. Read more about our achievements and the incredible pro bono partners who make this work possible: gmiau.org/wins-for-our...

Legal Aid lawyer Hilda Kwoffie has been forced to leave the UK due to immigration rules because her salary did not meet the £41,700pa threshold. 'I always knew since I was young that I wanted to be a lawyer [and] help the most vulnerable in society.' lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...

🚨 Migrants Organise is raising £3000 to provide frontline advice and emergency support to the people who need it to survive the sharpest edge of government cruelty. Can you help by donating or sharing?👇 www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/migrants-o...

Policy change is needed to deal with the 'cliff edge' when refugees are granted status. Too many people become street homeless after asylum accommodation. The law needs to recognise that, like care leavers, refugees need support to start their new lives. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Thank you to everyone who came to our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, and to our speakers in the informative session on new technologies of surveillance. More details and our 2025 Annual Report will be up on our website soon - watch this space!

“Legal training & supervision cannot be luxuries reserved for the commercial sector.” In 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Myriam Naoual sets out how SQE costs, low pay & the Mazur ruling deepen the challenges facing new #LegalAidLawyers. @pilc-campaigns.bsky.social @younglegalaidlaw.bsky.social 📖 hi.switchy.io/kmcI

Today’s budget makes a vital first step: ending the two-child benefit limit. Big Issue founder John Bird responds - and calls for the bold child poverty strategy the UK still urgently needs. Share if you agree and help us fight for every child affected by poverty across the UK.

Looking forward to hosting this event with @gmlawcentre.bsky.social Join us @bdtuc.bsky.social @gftu.org.uk @georgemonbiot.bsky.social @manniequinn.bsky.social @leicesterworker.bsky.social

“Our young people have often just faced endless rejections,” he told me. “They’re disillusioned. And at the jobcentre it feels more like a monitoring exercise, so they feel under pressure. They’ll be applying for 150 or 200 jobs, to absolutely no avail.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Now it feels like you're being punished for having children." According to the Department for Work and Pensions, 59% of households affected by the [two-child benefit limit] policy are in work. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“This is a dark day for anyone like me, who wants the memory of their loved one to be respected & valued equally.” - Daniel Jwanczuk on today’s Supreme Court ruling on Bereavement Support Payment in favour of the DWP publiclawproject.org.uk/latest/supre...

Today, the BBC reported live from six County Courts hearing eviction and repossession cases. This is a small sample of what we try to stop by representing people at court: people losing their home after their finances take a turn, or for no fault at all. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy...

"In 2017, a working couple could cover 97% of their children’s costs – this has dropped to 84% in 2025. For lone parents it’s gone from 86% down to 69%." #ScrapTheBenefitCap www.bigissue.com/opinion/work...

When the Renters Rights Act comes into force, tenants will need local authorities to be better than this at enforcement, or many of the new protections will become meaningless. The government should fund #LegalAid so tenants aren't as reliant on Councils. www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...

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.

Today, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to announce the latest attack on refugee rights in the UK. A host of hostile policy changes have already been announced. We don’t yet have the full details, but we’ll keep you updated as more becomes clear. ⬇️Here’s what we know + think so far:

Congratulations to Zayd Tariq, our student volunteer who won Best Student Contribution at the Manchester Pro Bono Awards last week. Zayd has shown excellent client care skills and flexibility supporting his welfare benefits clients. Thank you Zayd for your work - and the cake!

Protest law is becoming increasingly draconian. The Home Office think that protesting outside MPs' homes is "toxic behaviour"- others view it as holding those in public office accountable for their decisions. Peaceful protest should not be criminalised. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

“Now is the time for a full-throated defence of the European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act. No one has human rights, unless we all have human rights.” GMLC has signed this statement. #AccessToJustice www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/almost...

Lord Neuberger: "Legal aid for advice and representation in civil and family cases which was barely adequate in 1996 has been progressively shrunk in both scope and quantum over the past 30 years". #AccessToJustice www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/neuberg...

𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀'𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 📖 “It seems that the regulation of free expression is rarely out of the news.” Raj Chada examines the growing criminalisation of speech and what it means for democracy and justice. 👉 Read the full story in the latest Legal Action magazine @hjacriminaldefence.bsky.social

The Renters Rights Act has finally passed. The Act makes changes to the way evictions, rent increases and tenancy agreements work. Some of its changes are welcome, but its effect in practice remains to be seen - and fought in the courts. www.gov.uk/government/n...

The most sensible way to bring down the benefits budget would be to introduce rent controls. Raising housing benefit levels helps some tenants in the short-term - but it has a lot of pitfalls. Only rent controls make long-term sense. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our colleagues at @gmiau.bsky.social have worked with asylum seekers in hotels to put together this letter from the lived experience of living in asylum accommodation. "We believe it is time for people to hear our side of the story." gmiau.org/greater-manc...

On #AdviceWeek, we’re sharing a few stories of hardship transformed. This is the contribution that Law Centres make every day to our country. It’s a vital public service, but government underinvestment is limiting its potential. It's time to give the advice sector the support it needs to thrive.

‘KEEP THE FLAME BURNING’ OPENS AT THE WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT LIBRARY The exhibition, that has been co-produced by a group of volunteers, all aged 16 - 25 and working class, opens on Friday 18th July! Follow the link for more info wcml.org.uk/event/keep-t...

The government must scrap the benefit cap in its upcoming child poverty strategy. It pushes 300,000 children into even deeper poverty, does not achieve its purported aims and would only cost £300 million to abolish. cpag.org.uk/sites/defaul...

The Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson has called on the government to further invest in the civil legal aid system to "begin eliminating legal aid deserts", saying it is a "crucial public service". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"It’s a fundamental principle that everyone, no matter their income, should be able to get access to justice to challenge unfair behaviour at work." www.theguardian.com/money/2025/o...