Prof Mark Priestley

The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion.

The entire bottom 50% of America is worth just $4.2 trillion.

Our problem isn't a lack of resources.

Our problem is ever-expanding inequality.

For George

Please sign up for this event - Bridging Skills for Working Lives - run by researchers from the University of Stirling

festivalofsocialscience.com/events/bridg...

Badenoch says Tories open to quitting more treaties to increase deportations Party leader uses conference speech to outline proposal for UK to exit ECHR as part of wider bonfire of protections

The irony is that a future government could use these proposed laws to deport Badenoch to her native Nigeria

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Text card: Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary. #OnTyranny

One of the lessons I discuss in "On Tyranny":
Listen for dangerous words.

Happily, Badenoch seems to be doing a grand job making herself irrelevant

When people start doubting that Trump actually wants to work with dictators, they might ask themselves why the two states he is working hard to limit military sales to are Taiwan and Ukraine.

The warning signs are clear: We’re heading toward a digital crisis The warning signs are loud and clear: we’re headed into a crisis, thanks to the growing interdependence of digital and economic systems — with no safety nets.

'The companies dominating the digital economy continue to undertake a massive social experiment where they keep the lion’s share of the benefits while shunting the risks onto society as a whole'

theconversation.com/the-warning-...

The right to peaceful protest is a large part of what makes us a democracy. Labour should understand that given their history

Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday

This erosion of civil liberty is getting more dangerous by the day

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

We flounced out of the EU on the say-so of politicians who lied to us. And what a total shitshow that’s turned out to be. The polar opposite of what they promised. Now the call to flounce out of the ECHR. By the same people. Telling the same lies. Has the country been kicked in the head by a horse?

Tories to pledge to create immigration taskforce modelled on Trump’s Ice Proposed ‘removals force’ will be tasked with deporting 150,000 people a year in bid to tackle illegal immigration

Badenoch is insane

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

On reports the Tories will back leaving the ECHR, Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey:

“Kemi Badenoch has chosen to back Nigel Farage and join Vladimir Putin by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights – a proud British creation championed by Churchill that protects everyone's rights and freedoms."

A disgrace, @teamlabouruk.bsky.social

Sign up now or email us for online access (limited to listening)

We can offer limited online access (to listen to the speakers). If you are interested in this option, please do not use the sign-up page, but instead send an email to curric-stir @stir.ac.uk. (remove space)

Forthcoming SCRCM symposium – ‘Curriculum making for social justice in a rapidly changing world’, featuring a range of international and UK speakers.

Monday 19 January, 10am-3.30pm in Stirling. Please sign up at www.tickettailor.com/events/facul...

Time for my old ECHR Venn diagram, yet again.

If you’re an Islamophobe you don’t get to complain about antisemitism

And if you’re an antisemite you don’t get to complain about Islamophobia.

It’s really that simple.

(So many shameless hypocrites around.)

Starmer urges pro-Palestine protesters to ‘respect the grief of British Jews’ Writing before a planned protest against Palestine Action ban, PM says activists should recognise a time of mourning

I absolutely respect the grief of British Jews. Anti-Semitic vice is horrific and unacceptable. But this does not mean I accept the war crimes of the brutal Israeli government

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

Police ask for protest against Palestine Action ban to be postponed after Manchester attack Exclusive: Organisers say protest will go ahead as planned and it is up to Met whether or not it prioritises arrests

The horrific anti-Semitic attack in Manchester should not be used to suppress protest against the horrific war crimes of the Israeli state

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

The noxious rhetoric of Tice and his ilk sows division and is a major contributory factor in the sorts of horrific and violent acts we saw today

Right-wing media fluffs Farage for years, to the point where he now leads the polls, and then start whining about Starmer being 'obsessed' when he starts telling some long overdue home truths. It's actually hilarious.

In other news, Kemi Badenoch's party has taken at least £7 million in donations from funders and directors of climate change denial lobby groups bylinetimes.com/2025/03/18/k...

The voices for Gaza that the government doesn’t want us to hear The arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters is a disturbing echo of the state censorship of Irish militant voices during the Troubles

“more than a thousand brave protestors so far are facing the prospect of 14 years in jail along with Palestine Actionists for making their voices heard about the situation in Gaza.

The government may need to speed up its prison building plans.”

Jane Goodall – a life in pictures The world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91

www.theguardian.com/science/gall...

Why is Keir Starmer obsessed with Nigel Farage?

I may have said this once or twice previously, the way to counter Reform is on their *weak* issues. People are still struggling with crap public services and high inflation. This is supposed to be Labour's strength, show what you are doing about it.

Diversity in the teaching profession: annual data report 2025 Fifth edition of an annual publication which aims to gather and share data relating to the diversity of the teaching profession in order to inform and evaluate future work.

DIVERSITY IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION

1/The annual data report tracking #MinorityEthnic teacher nos 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 has been published for 2025. Numbers remain stubbornly low with <2% of all teachers being #BAME. Still <1% are in any form of management position. Key points in the 🧵👇🏽

www.gov.scot/publications...

And what about pandering to the populist racism of Reform UK? Seems pretty dark to me