Chris Cocking

‘All together now’: Facilitators and barriers to engagement in mutual aid during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown Despite undeniable hardship, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic also saw an outpour of community solidarity and mutual aid towards those in need. This study explored why people participated in mutual ...

Research I did with @swedishprotests.bsky.social and
@evangelospsych.bsky.social into mutual aid during lockdown also showed how people came together to support and show solidarity with others, rather than behaving selfishly and/or 'panicking' journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

My blog from mid-March 2020 argued that we shouldn't have delayed lockdown & that the stated reason (that the public wouldn't comply with lockdown) had no basis in behavioural science & that people would likely be more resilient dontpaniccorrectingmythsaboutthecrowd.blogspot.com/2020/03/coro...

My blog from mid-March 2020 argued that we shouldn't have delayed lockdown & that the stated reason (that the public wouldn't comply with lockdown) had no basis in behavioural science & that people would likely be more resilient dontpaniccorrectingmythsaboutthecrowd.blogspot.com/2020/03/coro...

Covid inquiry: Lockdown could have been avoided and other key findings The long-awaited report is published into how well or badly the government handled the Covid pandemic.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
2 main headlines from #COVIDinquiry are that earlier lockdown would have saved 1000s of lives & lockdown may have been avoided altogether if protective measures had been introduced earlier

Seeing more eyewitness reports about #TrainAttack on the news provides further evidence of bystanders intervening in this incident. It seems that the actions of these “zero-responders” quite possibly saved lives last night

'Run, there's a guy stabbing everyone' - eyewitnesses describe attack Two passengers on the Doncaster-London train during Saturday's stabbing attack describe chaos as people scrambled for safety.

Eye-witness reports of extreme heroism in response to #TrainAttack in Cambridgeshire, UK last night. Man uses own head to protect woman from being stabbed. Evidence of concept of 'zero responders' & shows that people don't tend to 'panic' in emergencies. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Dublin: Police van set on fire at protest outside asylum seeker hotel Footage from the scene at Dublin's Citywest Hotel shows a police vehicle on fire.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Please don’t use the term ‘stampede’ to describe tragedies such as these @theguardian.com as it rarely matches up with what actually happens. This tragedy is more likely to have been a crowd crush or crowd collapse & it’s unlikely that people were trampled to death by other crowd members

At least 36 dead and more than 50 injured in stampede at Vijay rally in India Victims include eight children at election campaign gathering in Tamil Nadu led by popular actor and politician

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Next, @chriscocking.bsky.social presented his preliminary findings on his collective identity research concerning the right-wing protests in the UK since the August 24 riots by exploring using visual and audio data collection methods 🧵3/5

At @bps-social-psych.bsky.social the @behaviourresuk.bsky.social funded symposium on our 2024 riots project @swedishprotests.bsky.social @drannetempleton.bsky.social

Feeling the Chill: Protest & Power in the UK | Harley Wishart | Substack I am investigating whether new legislation in the UK has created a 'chilling effect' on activists, and if it has exacerbated the 'discriminatory impact' of protest policing. Click to read Feeling the ...

feelingthechill.substack.com?r=6dmo7h&utm...

There was no 'riot' at Mo Chara's court appearance in London today, which reinforces my previous point below that charging him with incitement to riot after Kneecap's Glastonbury set would have been ridiculous @kneecapceol.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

So this is where I’ll be laying my head this evening in mid Wales. That works for me!

The Press often say ‘riot Police are on alert’ for a demo, but it’s utterly meaningless. There will always be riot police on alert (that’s inherent within their role!). I only saw 2 officers from the TSG (MPS public order unit) in Parliament Square at the protest & they were deployed as advisors

Tsunami reaches Hawaii and California as earthquake off Russia triggers warnings - live updates Two million people are told to evacuate in Japan after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest ever, hits Russia's eastern coast.

Coverage I've seen so far of #Tsunami shows mercifully little damage and/or casualties. Also reports from #Hawaii of people being 'civilized' & no 'panic' as they evacuate, which fits with most research into mass emergency behaviour
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

Nicky Campbell - 23/07/2025 - BBC Sounds Nicky Campbell takes your calls on the day's talking points.

I was interviewed on @bbc5live.bsky.social this morning about the possibility of riots this summer & my clip is from 49.00-51.00 minutes into the following link;
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Briefer interaction than anticipated, so a lot of what I'd intended to say didn't get covered

An article I wrote in 2014 highlighted the Battle of #Orgreave during the UK miners' strike was the 1st large scale example of the British Police adopting tactics used by the colonial Police force in Hong Kong
theconversation.com/how-the-uk-i...

Battle of Orgreave national inquiry confirmed by Yvette Cooper Police violently clashed with striking miners at Orgreave in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Irrespective of Kneecap's stated political views, it would have been ridiculous to have charged them with incitement to riot after their Glastonbury performance. I explored this further in thread below that I posted previously #Kneecap
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hundreds take part in protests near asylum hotel in Epping More than 400 people attend demonstrations near a hotel that is being used as migrant accommodation.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Far-right supporters attack police after protest against Essex hotel for asylum seekers Riot police deployed to anti-immigration flashpoint in Epping as far right seek to exploit local tensions

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Danny Pike - 07/07/2025 - BBC Sounds Danny brings you the perfect start to your day in Sussex.

I was interviewed for BBC Radio Sussex today about the 20th anniversary of 7/7 to talk about the research I did with @profjohndrury.bsky.social into the collective resilience of those affected by the explosions. My bit starts at 1.13.30 in link below
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

1/10 On this day 20 years ago, I was with @chriscocking.bsky.social and Steve Reicher at the Royal Society summer exhibition in London, presenting our work on how people behave in emergency evacuations. As I tried to travel to the exhibition venue, I was part of a crowd of

London bombings: I survived 7/7, but still see the suicide bomber everywhere Dan Biddle recalls a bright, white flash as a bomb was detonated just metres away from him on a London Underground train.

'Adrian applied a tourniquet and pinched shut the artery in Dan's thigh to stop him bleeding to death.'

@chriscocking.bsky.social and I found many other examples like this of mutual aid among survivors in our research on this major incident.

@ukri.org funded

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

1) It's nonsense to claim that something said on stage at a festival could incite a riot nearly 2 months later at an entirely different event

2) Riots are complex events that involve escalating group interactions & don't usually start because 1 individual has 'incited' others to start rioting

During Kneecap's set, they called for a riot outside the court on 20/8 when Mo Chara is due to appear, but later said they didn't want people to riot. It would be ridiculous for the Police investigation to conclude that this amounts to incitement to riot for 2 main reasons as follows

Glastonbury: Police launch investigation into Bob Vylan and Kneecap sets It follows performances from both bands on Saturday at the Glastonbury music festival in Somerset.

The decision to investigate these acts illustrates some potentially concerning issues with what Avon & Somerset Police have recorded as a 'public order incident'. I'll stick to what I saw of the Kneecap set via BBC iPlayer, as I didn't see the Bob Vylan set
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Poor management leads to fatal crushes’: how Glastonbury and others are dealing with big crowds After disasters such as Astroworld and scary bottlenecks at last year’s Glastonbury, Emily Eavis and crowd experts explain how they’re trying to make events safe

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Notting Hill Carnival has been framed as a disaster waiting to happen. Is it? Plus: the art world embraces Croydon and we reveal the best pre-train tacos

Article below interviewed me about the #NottingHillCarnival in London and why I thought concerns about a mass casualty incident are potentially being exaggerated
www.the-londoner.co.uk/notting-hill...