Siân Pearce

Briefing: the implications of the “earned settlement” proposals and what they might mean in practice - Free Movement We’ve now had a few weeks to digest the “earned settlement” policy document, which outlines the proposed changes to the settlement system ahead of the public

New from Free Movement: Briefing: the implications of the “earned settlement” proposals and what they might mean in practice | Alex Piletska freemovement.org.uk/briefing-the...

Lads, lads, sans serif fonts are woke now!

I need to lie down

The conflation of "foreign criminals" and "illegal migrants" is disgusting.

Vile when some people don't have a safe route to flee from the utter detestation & brutality of war.

It's all grim enough without the Labour Government pushing further misinformation.

this is similar to what I've come to think of as the "reverse turing test"

when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter

it's diagnostic

Signed, "Yours, turning up the bunsen burner flame under the stoppered test tube full of my regards"

a drawing of an orange cat, curled up, upside down, looking at the camera with big, round, shiny eyes, without a single brain cell behind them. The text around says "Pure of heart, dumb of ass"

AITA for perpetuating ethnic stereotypes about orange cats?

High Court hears challenge to Pava spray use in children’s prisons - CYP Now A legal challenge to the government’s decision to extend the use of the chemical irritant spray Pava in young offender institutions (YOI) is underway at the High Court this week.

Our challenge to the government's decision to authorise PAVA spray in prisons holding children is being heard in the High Court today.

Children and Young People Now coverage: https://www.cypnow.co.uk/content/news/high-court-hears-challenge-to-pava-spray-use-in-children-s-prisons

Wondering what the longest period between Keir Starmer making a statement about race and Reform that it is not immediately undermined by something done by his ministers or aides has been. Three days?

Who do they think this is for?

Nobody wants this, nobody apart from tech-groomed university administrators.

You do what you must to keep sane in this sector.

This is an important grump. And I wonder how much of this is related to increased time pressures on scholars. Both the squeeze on time available for research and the pressure to publish more which means more quickly.

Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...

Outside Orkney Library and Archive on a grey, stormy day. The author Bram Stoker is flying around outside in the wind.

Storm's a comin'

#StormBram

The bones of Santa have been leaking liquid for 1,700 years.

I did this "job" for about 3 hours back when I was young and unemployed. We were actively encouraged to lie to people about how much money went where. And they lied to us about the work hours.

Not only informative, but enjoyable - I do love seeing women have their 'do not quote the deep magic' moments.

Thread of importance this season 👇

Also When the Wind Blows
Absolutely not

The Nightingale
Very well made and powerful film, that I never want to see again as long as I live.

Vicarious trauma: what practitioners need to know - Free Movement This ongoing exposure to distress and trauma (and indeed the full range of human emotion) can be described as vicarious trauma.

New from FM: Vicarious trauma: what practitioners need to know | Rachel Francis

"Horrifying" levels of state violence at UK-France border detailed in new report - Free Movement Humans for Rights Network has published a new report “You can’t stay but you can’t go” - State violence at the UK-France border, evidencing the levels of

New from Free Movement: “Horrifying” levels of state violence at UK-France border detailed in new report | Sonia Lenegan

Highly entertained at Russia putting Merthyr Tydfil on the hit list...

Millions of EU citizens had the rug pulled from under their feet when the UK Brexited. There was widespread outcry on changing the rules for millions of people. Where is the same indignation when the Labour government does it to millions of other migrants?

The same document also signalled the UK’s intent to move on article 3, saying that while people should never face torture, the legal interpretation of inhuman or degrading treatment “has been expanded over time”, allowing people to block deportations on the basis of arguments such as the fact they could not receive proper mental healthcare in their own country.

The target of the proposed reform, as stated in the asylum policy paper, is the second bit of the article 3 definition "inhuman or degrading treatment", not torture. Best to keep fire focussed on the right point imo

www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...

On certain key areas, especially related to rights, you need a rizla paper to measure the difference in outcomes, if not stated policies, between Reform and Labour. That is not to say they are the same though. It's dangerous ground to think things "can't be worse" under Reform. 1/

Rights groups warn against UK plans to weaken torture protections in ECHR Exclusive: Ministers face pushback over potential changes to asylum seekers’ rights before Council of Europe meeting

Shameful for David Lammy to be arguing perhaps that, while electric shocks to the genitals are definitely out, Europe should look more favourably on, say, sensory deprivation. (In reality, who knows where he's willing to draw the boundary?)

So this week shall I write about how killing unarmed civilians is murder or about how unwise it would be to limit the human right against torture.

Western liberal democracies in 2025.

UK asylum policy causes more violence and deaths, say rights groups Home Office drive to stop small boats crossing Channel is handing more power to people smugglers, report finds

Rather than pushing yet more hostile anti-asylum policies, Labour needs to be actually supporting people. UK policies and rhetoric have the inevitable consequences of not only forcing more people towards gangs, but increasing violence used against them. #r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...