dr nicky imrie

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

Today is a dark day for anyone who believes in sanctuary in the UK.

People who've fled war and torture should be able to rebuild their lives in peace and security - not live under a constant threat of removal.

We must not stop fighting these appalling anti-refugee laws.

I was born in an Iranian prison. My parents were held in their jails. My uncles lie in their mass graves. Nothing you can tell me about the crimes of the Iranian regime that I haven't lived in blood and bone. That doesn't mean I want my people bombed, maimed, killed, their homes in ruins. If your vision of liberation comes only through the destruction of innocent lives, then it's not freedom you're after. Sahar Delijani, Iranian author

I am pro Iranian people. I stand with them against their own government’s repression AND against the imperial violence in the form of bombs dropped from the sky from Israel & the US who have already killed hundreds.

I support neither imperialism or dictatorship.

Sahar Delijani said it best:

Strike on Iranian primary school kills 148, authorities say Girls’ education facility hit as US and Israel launch joint military operation

The death toll rises and two realities collide: imagine headlines if 148 schoolgirls were massacred in New York, London or Paris. After this and Palestine, the asymmetry of grief in our so-called world order is brutal and impossible to unsee.

Really concerned to hear the Defence Secretary refuse to rule out UK's involvement in future strikes on Iran.

Iraq lessons must be learned.
Further escalation in the Middle East makes us all less safe.

Starmer must rule out UK involvement immediately.

The Department of Languages at @heriotwattuni.bsky.social is facing serious cuts with a proposal to make 11 of its staff redundant, stop offering undergraduate Chinese and German and eliminate intercultural studies courses.

Please sign this petition: heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2026/02/05/s...

Campaigner turned down MBE over ‘scapegoating’ of people with disabilities Exclusive: In letter declining proposed award, Tressa Burke, CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance, accused government of ‘fuelling hatred’

Tressa Burke, chief executive officer of the Glasgow Disability Alliance says she turned down an MBE because the recent budget “supercharged the inequalities and unfairness disabled people face”.
“It is fuelling misinformation. It is fuelling hatred. It is fuelling blame and scapegoating."

Bravo ⭐

And to Dave!

Nollaig Chridheil Peigi Bheag!

Absolute bullshit, and authors, if Harlequin has your foreign rights, you should also complain.

Very cool! Thank you, Peigi. 😁

Excluding trans people won’t stop you getting sued | Good Law Project Girl Guiding and the Women’s Institute have announced that they will now exclude trans women and girls after legal threats – but organisations can and should remain inclusive.

Girl Guiding and the Women’s Institute have announced that they will now exclude trans women and girls after legal threats – but organisations can and should remain inclusive:
https://goodlaw.social/cpfx

Starmer CHOSE to keep the Supreme Court misjudgment despite its obvious flaws and its injustice.

It allows him to deniably harm trans people. It is a mixture of political cowardice, gratuitous oppression, lack of principle and hypocrisy which defines the content of his character.

Press Release: New Report Highlights Hidden Homelessness Faced by LGBTI People in Europe | ILGA-Europe New cross-country findings show how systemic stigma and economic vulnerability push LGBTI people into hidden homelessness and long-term instability.

New ILGA-Europe data shows how stigma, discrimination & economic insecurity push LGBTI people into hidden homelessness across Europe. Change is possible with inclusive policies, trauma-informed services and action on structural discrimination. www.ilga-europe.org/press-releas...

🎉

This is just one “news” paper - The Times. They are OBSESSED with attacking trans people! 😖

They will absolutely KNOW that it’s TDoR today, and will have published this transphobic bilge as a gesture of power and provocation.

It is pure, malicious, propaganda! 😣

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care? The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...

This is also still ongoing, to fund English translations of African novels written in non-colonial languages! (which do not get translated very frequently!)

Cover of a book: Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains by John Grindrod

Let's take a ride... My next book is coming out with @faberbooks.bsky.social. Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains will be published March 12 2026. Preorder links in profile, and lots more on the book and the remarkable stories people told me to come over the next few months...

Tonight I was talking to a friend about this and she told me, this is one more major milestone in the decline of German democracy. For many people, it will be the thing that makes them decide to pack their bags, in anticipation of what is coming.

Good to hear your shoulder and arm have recovered sufficiently that you can do these tasks and podcast editing. 😊

That's my usual Sunday too. Nice change today. 😊

I've had a very good weekend, thank you, and you?
I worked yesterday and today saw a friend, visited an exhibition, walked in the rain and autumn leaves, and made an apple crumble. 😁

🎉

Wtf is a TEST of a ceasefire?!?!??!?

cw: discussion of family violence and unaliving.

Autumn by Susan Hill - BBC Sounds A middle-aged couple battle to escape their past. Stars June Brown.

Brilliant short play on #BBCRadio4Extra today: #Autumn by #SusanHill.
A couple tries to escape their past by moving home.
Stars #JuneBrown and a classic telly fave, #BernardHepton. And today is centenary of his birth.
Something for @secretarmypod.bsky.social fans?
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Excellent, wide-ranging long thread on the state of the UK...
Thank you @tanjabueltmann.net

It would be amazing to see a design commission for Powell in the tradition of Scottish tin tabernacles, the Watts Chapel and secular contemplative spaces where his etched(?) copper/metal panels could weather outdoors over time while also serving as printing plates 😊 ...

And while you are visiting @edinburghprints.bsky.social be sure to leave plenty of time check out Robert Powell's astonishing Hall of Hours installation with working clock and gorgeous copper ornaments.

You are very welcome! 😊 I can imagine being able to drive again and regaining autonomy must be great.
Having a good Sunday, thanks: wind-blown walk and blether with a pal this morning and catching up with things this afternoon. Hope you are having a good day.