Lucy Faire

Lets also talk about Nigel Farage appearing in the Epstein Files 43 times, lets do that too.

That's why I teach 18th century food riots. The newspaper reports use exactly the same language of "the mob" and "idle youths".
Introduce good old George Rudé's arguments about "faces in the crowd" and EP Thompson on the ordered decision making behind the "moral economy."

Locals want a local candidate

Labour: Fuck what locals want

Great strategy

He's not wrong. Too bad something like four multibillionaires, own all of the paper and TV news and are in his pocket.
#trump #fucktrump #rape #sexualassault #potus #president #epstein

One of the most fun days leafleting and canvassing today. Most people were undecided and didn’t know there was an election coming.

But most gave us the time of day, and had a chat.

Lovely to see Green Party posters going up down Stockport Road, slowly turning the community green.

Israeli strikes on Gaza reportedly kill at least 12, one of the highest tolls since October agreement The strikes, which killed women and children, came a day before a border crossing is expected to open in Gaza’s southernmost city

12 killed, 6 of them children.

This will not even register with most people

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The university bosses getting rich while they’re cutting jobs While academics are being let go and students are racking up debts, vice-chancellors are seeing their pay soar to astonishing levels

Staff cuts. Students in debt yet Vice-chancellor pay keeps soaring.

The mystery of Higher Education in the UK that no one seems to have the answer to.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...

Residents have their say on Andy Burnham's blocking Constituents in Gorton and Denton offer their views on the mayor being prevented from standing.

Classic reporting here with only one party getting a mention as opposing Labour. You can guess which one.

Residents have their say on Andy Burnham's blocking - BBC News share.google/K0WECExhw74A...

'Analysis of almost 5,000 prison learners who took part in OU higher education programmes between 1986 and 2023 found that those who engaged with the programmes were 22 per cent less likely to reoffend within a year of release than similar prisoners who did not.' 2/2

It's interesting to read the responses to this. I couldn't see one person who thought that this was a good idea. Quite a few are by tutors - but, hey, what would they know about teaching?

Absolute ghoul. You know who can help you with this? People. Teachers. Tutors. Not slop machines that will rob children of knowledge, opportunity, empathy and humanity.

Education is a fundamentally human endeavour. If the education secretary doesn’t understand this then we are all truly fucked.

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour announces policing overhaul but critics fear it will centralise power Home secretary to regain authority to sack chief constables and set crime- fighting targets in England and Wales

Lab, Con & LibDems today all agreed the decision by Weds Mids police to ban the Jewish fans is wrong, disgraceful etc, but nothing they can do because 'operational independence'. Only Reform UK will change the law to put the police under the control of elected politicians.

Seems to have slipped under the radar with the Andy Burnham stitch-up & paramilitary executions in the US, but authoritarianism in the UK just took a massive leap forward, with police forces falling under direct political control.

Worth noting that this is Labour implementing Reform UK policy.

A bronze figure of a woman lying on her back while a child sits on her chest looking down at her. The woman is holding up a vase behind the child.

Reminds me of "Mother and Child", Maurice Lambert, 1959.
Stands in Basildon town centre, another new town.

Scenic Rollercoaster, Dreamland, Margate - 1919-20, Grade II* Image credit: Hollaway Studio

Scenic Rollercoaster, Dreamland, Margate - 1919-20, Grade II* Image credit: The Guardian

Scenic Rollercoaster, Dreamland, Margate - 1919-20, Grade II* Image credit: Dreamland Trust

🎢Very sad news just announced, that the historic Scenic Railway at Dreamland Margate is to permanently close. Built 1920, the Grade II* listed timber ride is of international importance as the oldest surviving rollercoaster in Britain, second oldest in Europe and among the five oldest in the world.

It tells you everything you need to know that Reform are parachuting in a rent-an-extremist - this isn't about representing the people of Gorton and Denton, it's about using this place as a platform for their careers.

Manchester will show him the door.

Material culture of the street

Help us make hope normal again.

Join the Green Party now.

‘All the Kids Wanna Sniff Some Glue’: glue-sniffing, deindustrialization, and moral panic in 1980s Britain Abstract. This article analyses anxieties surrounding glue-sniffing in 1980s Britain and their entanglement with the era’s accelerated deindustrialization.

Brilliant new article by @malcolmrussell73.bsky.social on glue-sniffing panics, youth boredom and deindustrialising towns c. 1970s-80s, published in @mbhjournal.bsky.social

This began life as an exceptional MA dissertation at @uclhistory.bsky.social

Congrats Malcolm!

doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...

Zack Polanski has said that Britain should expel US forces from the UK if the country seizes Greenland - a proposal 55% of Britons support

Support: 55%
Oppose: 22%

yougov.co.uk/topics/trave...

Palantir is a huge security risk for the UK and is used by ICE for surveillance purposes.

Support our strike placard

Important event in Westminster today with UCU Union: A 25% cut in FE salaries since 2009 -this cannot go on: we need a new deal for FE

Short-termism kills knowledge.

It's government that provides the incentives for this drive to cut into a university's key resource, whatever the long-term harm. We need an overhaul of the financial & governance system of #UKHE.

A really interesting talk - thanks @sophiemhistory.bsky.social !

This image says : AGM, 29 January 2026, 7.30-8.30pm via Zoom. It has the LVC logo.

Our AGM will be on 29 of January. This is open to all Members of LVC. The meeting will start at 7.30pm and is via Zoom.
Not sure if you are member? Then send us a message and we'll check the book!
If you would like to become a member for just £1 go to vaughan.coop/leicester-va...

Imperial Footprints | Hurst Publishers From the Victorian era to Partition, Mukherjee uncovers the unique experiences of the very youngest South Asian migrants to Britain.

Hurrah!!! The brilliant Sumita Mukherjee has a new book out about the lives of South Asian children in Modern Britain in just a few weeks.

I love the cover photo!

A must read so now would be a great time to preorder and commission reviews.

www.hurstpublishers.com/book/imperia...

If you have tried and failed to get a ticket for our January Forum today, we've now added more tickets!

www.tickettailor.com/events/leice...

☀️ A bright and sunny start to the working year for most of the country. How’s this for a blue sky moment? The sculptural sea horses (by J R Murray) of Newcastle’s coat of arms atop the carillon tower of the majestic Grade II* listed Civic Centre (1956-67)

© Michael Bailey Photography

Gee whizz, why aren’t these people popular

January Forum: Sudden Death - Nineteenth-Century Coroners Inquests - Leicester Vaughan College A talk about nineteenth century coroners courts using case studies from Leicester

Our next Forum will be on January 15. Sophie Michell -
@sophiemhistory.bsky.social - will be talking about nineteenth-century coroners inquests, using some case studies from Leicester. Join us online at 6.15pm.

vaughan.coop/course/janua...