Yup

Wow, he REALLY doesn’t want him to win… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Net migration to the UK is falling. Does this make govt more popular? No. And it won’t. These stats are not reported in right wing media & those hostile to migrants don’t believe them. Meanwhile people feel the economic impacts of reduced migration and get more annoyed… www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

I think this is what Henri Lefebvre was on about when he called for ‘the carnivalisation of everyday life’…

Wonderful and strange vibes from our Goldsmiths + Nunhead Cemetery late takeover yesterday evening. Mercuralia comes to southeast London 👌

I always enjoy voting. The dusty church halls.The pencil stubs. The badly printed ballot papers. The names ticked manually off lists… Politics is complicated but the actual business of democracy can be endearingly lo-fi.

Niche content but I love it…

On the train up to Manchester. Only one song to soundtrack that…. open.spotify.com/track/0XciPb...

Grim news from University of Nottingham. When I did my MA and PhD there 15 years ago these kind of cuts were unimaginable. It was a mighty, wealthy institution then. Smug, if anything. No one is safe: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/plans-a...

And very sad to see special (deserved) mention in this article for both the uni at which I currently work and the one at which I did all my postgrad study…

‘Rather than trying to shut down universities, we should be restoring them to their true purpose’… Very insightful piece on the current UK university crisis here: observer.co.uk/news/columni...

The cause of a sizeable chunk of the world’s current problems captured perfectly in this post…

Everyone knows Brexit was a disaster. Culturally, socially, environmentally and above all economically. Time to come right out and say it. Then proceed quickly to fixing it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yes!!! Get in the bin Orban you crypto fascist twerp…. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c2...

And you will suffer all the seasons/ On the sides of municipal buildings… open.spotify.com/track/1uUVzJ...

Finished this beauty/ beast of a book this week by @stuhennigan.bsky.social . If you haven’t read it yet, you NEED to. It achieves the rare feat of being savage and tender at the same time, and being genuinely original in an era of literary blandness. Real, essential writing…. Also…

Top night in East London for the launch of @stuhennigan.bsky.social’s novel Keshed. Savage Northern poetic literature onslaught in darkest Mile End. Perfect 👌

Imagine devoting your entire career to selling the idea that the British public hates wokery and is clamouring for radical right wing populism, only to then be defeated in an actual election by the most left wing possible coalition of politicians and activists in the country. It's got to hurt

Phew! The good guys won this time. Major achievement for the Greens… Still, due to a big split in the left vote a despicable creep like Matt Goodwin came pretty close to being an MP. Unelectable otherwise. We need to be very careful about this in coming elections. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp...

Anxious about Gorton & Denton. Greens are bookies favourite and I hope they win. BUT huge risk in this election of progressive vote splitting and Reform coming through the middle. A Reform MP in a constituency with a huge Muslim community would be a farcical disaster whichever way you look at it.

This beauty arrived in the post today. Looks like it’s time to #getkeshed in South London… Am I right, @stuhennigan.bsky.social ?

We are approaching a tipping point in relation to research capacity at uk universities. Despite being recognised as a national priority by successive governments, it’s absolutely running on fumes at many unis. A huge failure of policy and imagination: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

My hot political prediction for 2026…. Appointing someone with a background of multiple workplace bullying accusations as head of the UK civil service because they’re going to ‘shake things up’ and ‘get things done’ is going to end in tears, regrets and U-turns www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What made this country great? Immigration!!! How are we going to make it great again? Stopping immigration!!!

Out on the South Downs yesterday making the most of a brief break in the weather. Windmills, woodlands and dew ponds. Lovely.

UK construction and service sectors shrank in 2025. Both crucial sectors, particularly services. Higher Education also obviously shrank significantly. At least some of this will be driven by lower migration, which as ever is crucial to our economy: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Two grant schemes from the School of Advanced Study are now open for applications: Being Human Festival 2026 and the Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities’ new Collaboration and Innovation Grant. Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply

Lee Miller at Tate Britain. Beautiful images. Haunting images. Images of shattered worlds…

Heartbreaking piece here on the closure of the University of Essex’s Southend campus. Unlike much that’s written about universities, it really captures the deep emotional connection between university and place, and what it means when that’s lost: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Early signs of spring at the end of the garden, and a new guardian spirit to help them along….

Wowsers look at what happened to posts on Twitter/X about London crime after monetisation of posts was introduced… economist.com/britain/2026...

‘Lawless Britain’ update, in case you missed it. Homcides in England and Wales currently lower than at any point since the 1970s. Knife crime at its lowest level since 2003… Why aren’t we shouting this stuff from the rooftops? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Perhaps Jean Baudrillard was onto something after all… www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Oh my god, Reform have dredged up Matt Goodwin of all people to stand in Gordon and Denton… Seriously, people of Gorton YOU DESERVE BETTER!

A real honour to attend a Memorial Service marking the 45th anniversary of the New Cross Fire at St Andrew’s church, Brockley yesterday. A beautiful service honouring the 14 lives lost to this still unresolved tragedy, and the dignity and resilience of all those impacted by it.

This really can’t be repeated and shared enough…

Trump to Iran: don't execute protesters or we'll bomb you Trump to America: don't protest or we'll execute you

Absolutely incredible evening at Goldsmiths honouring the great poet, musician and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson. A deep reminder from Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social and others, including students interpreting Linton’s poetry, of all the things that drew me to Goldsmiths in the first place…

Another update from the front line of ‘Broken Britain’. London’s murder rate lowest in more than a decade and much lower than 20 years ago… www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

👇

Merry Christmas from the Goldsmiths campus. If Britain hadn’t switched to the Gregorian calendar back in the 18th century, this is what your Christmas Eve would be looking like..

Quite! So sick of this nonsense. When people say ‘too many people are going to university’ it’s never their own kids or their friends’ kids that they have in mind…

Christmas is the time for… an emergency trip to the dentist when a MASSIVE piece of one of your teeth chips off when eating a Pret sandwich. Ffs…

Christmas time in the City of Lights… #Paris

Just a friendly reminder that by all the measures that matter to people: the economy, a functioning NHS, good public services, strong research and innovation, a rich and exciting cultural scene, etc, a big drop in net migration is a REALLY BAD THING www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...

Sad news. I used to love the Roses as a teenager in Manchester. Weirdly I never realised then that at same time I was discovering his music, Mani was living literally ten minute’s walk from my mum’s house! An incredible musician and decent guy, by all accounts. RIP. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Terrific day at the Albany in Deptford for our mini Festival of Migration as part of @beinghumanfest.bsky.social. Bringing Goldsmiths researchers together with local residents and community partners to explore stories and histories of migration. A JOYOUS event in increasingly dark political times.

Terrible news coming out of Notts. I spent many years at this uni doing my MA and PhD, teaching and working in their arts centre (which is linked to the Music Dept). Tragic to see Music and Languages being decimated there, as at so many other unis… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Some words from me in @artsprofessional.co.uk on a new project with Future Arts Centres - a network of over 170 UK arts organisations. We’re exploring the role that arts spaces can play in bridging divides and fostering ‘creative democracy’. More to follow! www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/fea...

Great evening yesterday at the Goldsmiths Prize ceremony. One of very few literary prizes that actually rewards risk taking and experimentation. CD Rose won this year for We Love Here Now... Always good to see a Mancunian lifting a literary trophy! @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social