@andrewjamesneilson.bsky.social
Dishevelled wandering star. Director of Campaigns @thehowardleague.bsky.social Co-florist @badlilies.bsky.social andrewneilson.uk
(My eyes were closed, obvs)
02.08.2025 18:10 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
I just spent a moment staring at this old friend and feeling whole again. Reasons for why forthcoming. โค๏ธ
02.08.2025 18:06 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
"This is a truly shocking report and children at Oakhill have been profoundly failed."
Oakhill has been issued its second Urgent Notification after inspectors found serious and systemic failures. The prison holds children as young as 12.
Read our response: howardleague.org/news/howard-...
โPrisons cannot go on like this. It is unconscionable to see the huge rise in deaths in custody, as well as continued spikes in self-harm and in assaults."
A staggering 401 people died in prison in the last year.
Read our response to MoJ's safety in custody stats: howardleague.org/news/shockin...
"That any prison would report such poor standards is shocking, but to read of such standards in an institution holding children is inexcusable."
โก๏ธOur latest blog from Legal Director, @gemabbott.bsky.social, on failures at Werrington and why PAVA is not the answer: howardleague.org/blog/pava-wi...
If you have subscribed to our new mailing list then you got the inside track on (and early access to!) our upcoming activities earlier today. If you haven't subscribed yet, then do! badlilies.uk/subscribe
27.07.2025 19:10 โ ๐ 10 ๐ 4 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0PENALTIES! And ABROAD! A salute to England's women. ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
27.07.2025 18:53 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
A close-up image of a child's eye. To the left, against a black background, is white text, which reads: "Don't let PAVA spray be used on children." Underneath, green text reads: "Support our campaign." In the bottom-right, in white and green, is the Howard League for Penal Reform logo.
We have begun legal proceedings in the High Court to challenge the governmentโs decision to authorise the use of PAVA spray in prisons holding children.
Please support us: www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-th...
A close-up image of a child's eye. To the left, against a black background, is white text, which reads: "Don't let PAVA spray be used on children." Underneath, green text reads: "Support our campaign." In the bottom-right, in white and green, is the Howard League for Penal Reform logo.
NEW: We have begun legal proceedings in the High Court to challenge the governmentโs decision to authorise the use of PAVA spray in prisons holding children.
Read more: howardleague.org/news/howard-...
A treasured possession. 'Black Spiders' (1982) by
@kathleenjamie.bsky.social
. Possibly the only poet I know of who shares my interest in the 5,000-year-old Caiy Stane. undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/ca...
I am very, very sorry to hear this. A long time ago, when I had just joined
@thehowardleague.bsky.social, I met Malcolm and, apropos of nothing, he said to me: "you write extremely good press releases, Andrew". It made my month. t.co/Fq0e5VNAjQ
โThe details emerging from this inspection are appalling and outrageous, and they represent a new low for an overcrowded and under-resourced public service that stands on the brink of collapse."
Pentonville prison has been issued with an urgent notification.
howardleague.org/news/urgent-...
Controversial view (?): Reform has no chance of winning the next general election. That is not to dismiss their voters' concerns but far too much time and energy in government is being spent trying to battle the spectre of Reform, where the party itself is often nowhere on policies. It's pervasive.
17.07.2025 21:36 โ ๐ 4 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
OK, we need to talk about sentencing.
howardleague.org/what-is-sent...
Cyril Connolly asked Wystan Auden to write a poem that would make him cry. Here is the poem. It has perhaps the greatest ending to a poem ever. It also (always) feels timely.
13.07.2025 20:44 โ ๐ 5 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0If there is a more successful (in terms of audience) poetry journal publishing only poems in the U.K...I'd like to hear about it. Possibly the world?
12.07.2025 21:16 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0We have had almost 102,000 unique visitors since we launched in April 2021 (this includes the best part of a year when we were in hiatus). Bad Lilies is read by people around the globe, with roughly a half from the U.K. and a quarter from the US, Canada, New Zealand, India all in top spots.
12.07.2025 21:05 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0Bad Lilies has had almost 1,300 unique visitors since our new issue dropped just over a week ago. That's around twice the number of subscribers of a 'healthy' poetry magazine, and many are less than healthy. Subscribe to our new mailing list and we'll keep you in the loop!
12.07.2025 20:48 โ ๐ 13 ๐ 3 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1A great piece on possibly my favourite writer. Good critical writing about poetry is increasingly rare. I'm biased perhaps, because I was born and grew up by the North Sea, but this collective just keeps putting out great content. I wish I was part of it!
11.07.2025 18:15 โ ๐ 6 ๐ 2 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0Great poem!
11.07.2025 18:04 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
July, not June. But still.#JaneKenyon
11.07.2025 17:57 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Apparently America has not had a Poet Laureate (Consultant to the Library of Congress) since April. Make of this what you will! Here's Anthony Hecht's (tongue-in-cheek) summary of the privileges incumbent to the role:
06.07.2025 21:50 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
OUT NOW. Issue Twenty-One: Long-limbed Darlings badlilies.uk/issue-twenty-1
04.07.2025 11:00 โ ๐ 30 ๐ 18 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 3I am unashamedly vacation- dressed when on vacation. Also helps with getting past US border security!
01.07.2025 19:07 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Very proud of my daughter, Eleanor, getting a first overall in her first year studying Politics at York. If I'm the old block, she is very definitely more than just a chip. โค๏ธ
01.07.2025 18:44 โ ๐ 5 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
How will the sentencing review recommendations be turned into operational reality?
With new legislation expected any day now, this blogpost from our Director of Campaigns, @andrewjamesneilson.bsky.social, looks at what the future may hold: howardleague.org/blog/how-wil...
Happy people/places โค๏ธ
22.06.2025 21:05 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0It's a pic I took once in an Irish pub near Finsbury Park, London. The name of the pub is The W. B. Yeats!
22.06.2025 13:23 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Happy 160th birthday to the man.
13.06.2025 20:40 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Bad Lilies would like to extend our nuptial congratulations to Rachael Boast and Andy Ching! Top poetry people โค๏ธ
07.06.2025 22:08 โ ๐ 9 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
