First day of school. I have my name on a door. And my own office. And a plant!

UK government to reintroduce maintenance grants (rather than loans) for students from the lowest income families www.gov.uk/government/n...

Ok. They’ve pissed me off. I’m back to tell you 3 things about ID cards: 1. Migrants ALREADY HAVE biometric ID cards & govts have been trying to digitise them for years w repeated fuckups & failures causing complete chaos - they don’t work, you do not want that system for you.

For anybody who says we are not a “papers please society”. Bullshit. We have to show papers to travel, get a job, and rent a flat. ID cards would simply make this simpler. Grey economies also exist in countries with ID cards. So for labour to pitch this as anti-migration is simply xenophobia.

Labour pitching ID cards as an explicitly anti-immigration measure is one of the dumbest things this government has done, among a very crowded field.

A couple of points: Why does it need to be digital (i)? Physical cards are easy to carry and don’t disenfranchise the elderly (ii) The EUSS system constantly breaks Will be we able to opt out of whatever AI training the govt will inevitably sign up to? news.sky.com/story/politi...

Have you completed the survey? We're calling on civic society organisations & local authorities across NI & ROI to take part in participate in our survey on the Conditions for North-South & East-West Cooperation. crossborder.ie/news/complet... @benrosher.bsky.social @anthonysoares.bsky.social

We're inviting civic society organisations and local authorities in NI and ROI to respond to our Survey on the Conditions for North-South and East-West Cooperation. Reposts appreciated. Get involved before 6 October: crossborder.ie/news/complet... @anthonysoares.bsky.social @benrosher.bsky.social

NEW The proscription of Palestine Action as a case study of terrorism law Why is the general criminal law not sufficient to deal with direct action groups? Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/the-proscr... Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/09/the-...

If a government recognises Palestinian statehood then it recognises its right to exist. On that basis, that government cannot continue to fund and arm a state that is explicitly trying to destroy the newly recognised state. Otherwise you’re just doing an actual virtue signal.

🔔New ARK Research Update 🔔 The latest Research Update by Professor @katyhayward.bsky.social and Dr @benrosher.bsky.social explores attitudes in Northern Ireland on the constitutional question. Read here ➡️ www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/de...

What this piece shows is that the scheme is already a mess. The Home Office is deporting people entirely at random. Those in detention don't have legal representation. Ten children have been erroneously detained and released. Legal challenges will follow. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Tell me again that Israel is not knowingly and intentionally committing a genocide

More politicians have condemned political violence in the last hour after the shooting of a guy who actively encouraged political violence than they have in the last 2 years of a genocide.

Ironically, it appears that AI chatbots hallucinate for the same reason that students feel compelled to use them: They were socialized in a high-stakes testing culture that rewards guessing and maybe getting it right over admitting when there's something you just don't know.

Chuffed to see my 'insightful' book 'Anywhere But Here' referenced in the @financialtimes.com Inside Politics newsletter.

Why, when governments say they will do “whatever it takes” to stop small boats, do they never do the one thing that will actually work and open safe routes.

People seeking asylum already carry Application Registration Cards (ARC) cards, for starters. Digital id requires you to have access to digital tech, and, despite the rantings of some right wingers, asylum seekers aren't issued with mobile phones or iPads, so many would be unable to access one. 1/

This! Over years the Home Office has successfully created the hostile environment it intended. But it’s not really sure how it’s achieved this. This leaves a huge gap between the formulation of border policy, the responsibility for its enactment, and accountability for its effect.

Hard to tell from this bland announcement just what the government plans for asylum appeals, so I’m trying not to speculate. But I’ve worked in the sector in various roles since 1987 & I’ve seen a lot of policy proposals come & go so I have Thoughts on the dysfunctional way we decide such things 1/🧵

This is about the concept of "continuous immigration vetting," an idea from Trump's first term. Rather than having people be checked for compliance at specific interactions with the government such as a visa renewals, there would be an automated system running constant checks.

We’re one news cycle away from anyone buying Normal People being arrested for financing terrorism.

On the recognition of Palestine A close look at an unconvincing letter from "distinguished" UK lawyers By me Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/on-the-rec... Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/08/on-t...

📣 Vacancy for PhD position! 📣 I am looking for a qualitative PhD researcher (3 years, 30 hours/week) to join my ERC project #RESTATE (Refugees’ Political Participation and State-(Re)Making in Displacement), starting preferably on 1 January 2026.

Thank you to all the civic society organisations and local authorities that responded to our 𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵 quarterly survey on the Conditions for North-South & East-West Cooperation. Providing a valuable check on organisations' views, the results will be available tomorrow. @benrosher.bsky.social

Proscribing Palestine Action can’t hold. They’re not a terrorist organisation, and nobody thinks they are. A vast (and increasing) swathe of the population support their cause. Policing requires consent and that requires a majority acceptance of the law, but most people think this law is an ass.

How do we celebrate getting 2 R&Rs in 1 week?

NEW Constitutional law during a carnival of cruelty Protecting rights when causing pain is the point of policy By me Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/constituti... Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/07/cons...

The term “nanny state” gets thrown around a little too easily, but apparently now you have to verify you’re an adult before even being able to access the chat screen in Bluesky.

This is a fucking brilliant paper and you all need to read it

Prof. Alex de Waal, the world's leading expert on famine: "I've been working on this topic for more than four decades, and there is no case since World War II of starvation that was so minutely designed planned and controlled … And every step of it was predicted." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

This is, frankly, all our fault. www.theguardian.com/technology/2... We’ve neoliberalised university degrees to the point it’s a requirement for entry level jobs, rather than for education and intellectual curiosity as a good in its own right…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... My latest article, "The Declining Kingdom? Emotional Ascription, Emotional Expectations, and Humour in the International Framing of the UK in Crisis”, is now available in @politicsjournal.bsky.social as part of a special issue on Global Britain. 🇬🇧

Lord I am so glad at least one political leader is saying this.

New article published in @risjnl.bsky.social critiques the oft-repeated idea that 'we' are living in Age of Anxiety. I ask: who is the 'we'? A planetary we? Or an insecure (but provincial) Western-liberal subject? www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

It is very hard to see how the UK government can sign this statement, which makes it absolutely clear that it recognises that Israel is committing - as a matter of state policy - deliberate and systematic war crimes, without at a minimum cutting all military cooperation with Israel.

Julian is right, and pretty much every survey I’ve worked on for the last 5+ years concurs with his view. The majority of people, be they unionist, nationalist, or neither, would rather Stormont focussed on healthcare, housing, and the cost of living rather than the constitutional question.

From last week: Migration Advisory Committee gives details of salary requirements and temporary shortage list reviews | Sonia Lenegan

Pals, does anybody have recommendations for good furniture moving companies between the UK and Europe (specifically Sweden)?

Our cross-border survey measures the extent to which the necessary conditions for North-South cooperation are being maintained, & how East-West relations are being safeguarded following the Brexit transition period. crossborder.ie/news/calling... @benrosher.bsky.social @anthonysoares.bsky.social

Yesterday the IDF massacred at least 26 people in a beachside cafe, but the UK government think these folks are terrorist supporters.

Astonishing story. Huge questions over the company culture that allowed this. www.ft.com/content/c0e6...

“Its report said the department still relied on *airline passenger records* to check if someone had left the country and that there had been no analysis of those records since 2020.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Me for Metro: The crucial point is deterrence & border violence has never & will never work We need safe routes & the right to work legally for asylum seekers - IT IS SCREAMINGLY OBVIOUS But pressure might be working, we must press harder than ever for a humane policy💪 metro.co.uk/2025/07/02/a...

Lord grant me the majesty of a coo on a hillside.

On this memorable day, let's give the last word to the man himself. #DanHannanDay

If you are not concerned by the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation because you think it doesn’t impact you, you are wrong. This is an authoritarian abuse of power by the government & it curtails all of our civil liberties #r4today

Happy Dan Hannan’s a Charlatan Day to all who celebrate. Have a read, nobody has ever been *this* wrong. Dan is Cassandra’s Wario. www.reaction.life/p/britain-lo...

This is not what the "Not for EU" label means. The "Not for EU" label is a requirement of the Windsor Framework to ensure products placed on the market in GB can also be placed on the market in Northern Ireland.

I have been honourably mentioned! Thanks so much to @mybisa.bsky.social and the judges and all of the people who helped get my thesis over the line!