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Merle Read

@read-edit.co.uk

Non-fiction book/journal/website editor. CIEP Advanced Professional Member.

113 Followers  |  224 Following  |  8 Posts  |  Joined: 08.12.2023  |  2.003

Latest posts by read-edit.co.uk on Bluesky

Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow   When I was 13, I visited a Nazi concentration camp for the first time, confronting my country’s dark history always—and rightly—a bedrock in my growing up.    One image from that visit has stayed with me ever since: a display of prisoners’ personal possessions.    It revealed a world in which those imprisoned were stripped not only of their freedom but of the last tangible traces of their humanity. That systematic erasure was the most important precondition for murdering millions.   Now, as a historian, I know that history does not flow into the present in a straight line, and direct comparisons are rarely appropriate. They certainly are not here.   But history is the one compass humanity has. Too often we choose to ignore it.    The Home Secretary’s proposals for changes to the UK’s asylum system represent such a moment of failure.    Yet the most troubling aspect of Labour’s frantic efforts to appear tough on immigration is not even the historical echoes that taking refugees’ possessions invokes. It is that cost recovery is not the real purpose of the rationale behind it.    The true aim is to appeal to a particular audience—those who take satisfaction in seeing people seeking refuge deprived of what little they have.

Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow   When I was 13, I visited a Nazi concentration camp for the first time, confronting my country’s dark history always—and rightly—a bedrock in my growing up.    One image from that visit has stayed with me ever since: a display of prisoners’ personal possessions.    It revealed a world in which those imprisoned were stripped not only of their freedom but of the last tangible traces of their humanity. That systematic erasure was the most important precondition for murdering millions.   Now, as a historian, I know that history does not flow into the present in a straight line, and direct comparisons are rarely appropriate. They certainly are not here.   But history is the one compass humanity has. Too often we choose to ignore it.    The Home Secretary’s proposals for changes to the UK’s asylum system represent such a moment of failure.    Yet the most troubling aspect of Labour’s frantic efforts to appear tough on immigration is not even the historical echoes that taking refugees’ possessions invokes. It is that cost recovery is not the real purpose of the rationale behind it.    The true aim is to appeal to a particular audience—those who take satisfaction in seeing people seeking refuge deprived of what little they have.

It is hard to imagine a more troubling approach to policymaking, and that becomes even clearer when we consider the Home Secretary’s proposals in context.   As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. Around 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.   It is unconscionable that such a small and vulnerable population can be targeted with deliberate cruelty and weaponised for assumed political gain.   And that is all this will ever be. The core miscalculation is believing that adopting these positions will neutralise Reform.    Both historical knowledge and current research show the opposite. Mainstreaming extremist policies legitimises them further and aids only the original. Each step towards Reform’s territory simply gives Reform more power.   But our political discourse has been so degraded over the last decade that many no longer even recognise policies—or the language that frames them—as extreme.    That is how the Home Secretary can speak so casually of desperate people seeking sanctuary as recipients of a ‘golden ticket’ as though the context is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory rather than countries torn apart by war and starved by famine.

It is hard to imagine a more troubling approach to policymaking, and that becomes even clearer when we consider the Home Secretary’s proposals in context.   As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. Around 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.   It is unconscionable that such a small and vulnerable population can be targeted with deliberate cruelty and weaponised for assumed political gain.   And that is all this will ever be. The core miscalculation is believing that adopting these positions will neutralise Reform.    Both historical knowledge and current research show the opposite. Mainstreaming extremist policies legitimises them further and aids only the original. Each step towards Reform’s territory simply gives Reform more power.   But our political discourse has been so degraded over the last decade that many no longer even recognise policies—or the language that frames them—as extreme.    That is how the Home Secretary can speak so casually of desperate people seeking sanctuary as recipients of a ‘golden ticket’ as though the context is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory rather than countries torn apart by war and starved by famine.

Speak of her ‘moral mission’ to withdraw support, alleging that ‘illegal migration is tearing our country apart.’ And warn of ‘dark forces stirring up anger,’ oblivious to her own role: from the use of blurry, dehumanising images of refugees to spread falsehoods about their impact on communities, to the equally false description of refugee movements as illegal migration.    I suggest the Home Secretary find a mirror if she is keen to understand who is helping turn anger into hate.   Because it is the mainstreaming of far-right talking points that the Home Secretary’s proposals represent that is really tearing our country apart.   For when a policy looks like the far right, speaks to the far right and is hailed by the far right as being far right, it is far right. There is a reason Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is jubilant and speaks of ‘the Overton window having been obliterated.’   This makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s recent comments on the urgent need to tackle racism. But it also raises alarming questions about the impact this will have on communities around the country, many of which are already deeply divided.    The proposed policies will do nothing for these struggling communities, because their problems simply do not stem from people seeking sanctuary with us. In fact: for as long as politicians focus on immigrants and refugees as the cause of our problems, they will fail to deliver for the British people.   But it is important to grasp the impact of the Home Secretary’s proposals as they carry broader consequences for all of us.

Speak of her ‘moral mission’ to withdraw support, alleging that ‘illegal migration is tearing our country apart.’ And warn of ‘dark forces stirring up anger,’ oblivious to her own role: from the use of blurry, dehumanising images of refugees to spread falsehoods about their impact on communities, to the equally false description of refugee movements as illegal migration.    I suggest the Home Secretary find a mirror if she is keen to understand who is helping turn anger into hate.   Because it is the mainstreaming of far-right talking points that the Home Secretary’s proposals represent that is really tearing our country apart.   For when a policy looks like the far right, speaks to the far right and is hailed by the far right as being far right, it is far right. There is a reason Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is jubilant and speaks of ‘the Overton window having been obliterated.’   This makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s recent comments on the urgent need to tackle racism. But it also raises alarming questions about the impact this will have on communities around the country, many of which are already deeply divided.    The proposed policies will do nothing for these struggling communities, because their problems simply do not stem from people seeking sanctuary with us. In fact: for as long as politicians focus on immigrants and refugees as the cause of our problems, they will fail to deliver for the British people.   But it is important to grasp the impact of the Home Secretary’s proposals as they carry broader consequences for all of us.

Suggestions for changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights is applied are particularly concerning. Requiring judges to prioritise ‘public safety’—falsely implying refugees pose a threat—would qualify human rights for a specific group.   And once one accepts that human rights can be qualified for one group, one creates tools that can be used against anyone.   So what these proposals really mean goes far beyond asylum policy. This is about the kind of country we will have in the future. If human rights are no longer universal, they become a means for exclusion and control.    That is why stripping rights from refugees today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.    And that is why our historical compass matters and why we have to use it now. Because that compass tells us without doubt that when first they come for one group that is never where it ends. 

Suggestions for changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights is applied are particularly concerning. Requiring judges to prioritise ‘public safety’—falsely implying refugees pose a threat—would qualify human rights for a specific group.   And once one accepts that human rights can be qualified for one group, one creates tools that can be used against anyone.   So what these proposals really mean goes far beyond asylum policy. This is about the kind of country we will have in the future. If human rights are no longer universal, they become a means for exclusion and control.    That is why stripping rights from refugees today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.    And that is why our historical compass matters and why we have to use it now. Because that compass tells us without doubt that when first they come for one group that is never where it ends. 

Tried to get this published but no luck, so might as well ‘publish’ it here so it’s not a complete waste!

➡️ Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow

#asylum #Mahmood #history #humanrights

18.11.2025 20:03 — 👍 203    🔁 118    💬 11    📌 7
Dear [my MP’s name], As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.  That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest. I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights. Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming. A manufactured crisis As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.

Dear [my MP’s name], As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.  That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest. I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights. Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming. A manufactured crisis As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.

🌍 42.5m refugees
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.

🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.

It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.

My letter to my MP.

#asylum #Mahmood

🧵

16.11.2025 21:25 — 👍 659    🔁 288    💬 14    📌 11
Preview
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.

This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.

Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities

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

15.11.2025 06:43 — 👍 2247    🔁 809    💬 149    📌 162
Preview
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.

Research on this is clear: the uncertainty created by this policy will lead to people integrate less into British society. It is trading-off the reasonable policy goal of integration for the useless symbolism of immigration numbers. Bad policy to appease the far right.

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

15.11.2025 13:09 — 👍 238    🔁 62    💬 10    📌 4

📚Calling all contacts in Scottish arts, culture, literature and publishing: Please do all you can to help support and spread the word about The Herald's Christmas appeal with the Scottish Book Trust.📚

12.11.2025 16:30 — 👍 2    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Postbox 12 launch: Colette Coen, Max Mulgrew and Catherine Ogston with Sheila Wakefield - Glasgow Life Aye Write 2025 presents Postbox 12 launch: Colette Coen, Max Mulgrew and Catherine Ogston with Sheila Wakefield

I'm appearing at Aye Write (yipee) on Friday 7th of Nov at the Mitchell Library. It would be lovely to see some of you there #sheilawakefield #maxmulgrew #catherineogston #ayewrite www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/post...

09.10.2025 16:36 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Interesting thread 👀 #amEditing

09.10.2025 12:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Why the scapegoating of migrants by Nigel Farage is nothing new It is clear Nigel Farage’s scapegoating of immigrants is not an innovation, but an ugly leitmotif of history.

"The rhetoric & especially the tropes — the boats spewing out their unwelcome cargo, the swarthiness of the incomers’ skins, their tendency to stick with their own — are startlingly similar." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column on lessons from the UK's 1940 programme of mass internment.

07.09.2025 10:53 — 👍 21    🔁 11    💬 2    📌 0

“I had to break the news to my wife. She hasn’t been able to stop crying since she heard the news. What is the value of this life if you have to be separated from the people you love? Both of us are completely shattered by this.”

This heartbreak a thousand times, for what?

03.09.2025 06:43 — 👍 17    🔁 14    💬 0    📌 2
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Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...

29.08.2025 10:44 — 👍 1104    🔁 457    💬 64    📌 64
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👉OUT NOW!👈

"A Handbook of Integration with Refugees: Global Learnings from Scotland"

Edited with @alisonphipps.bsky.social and @esaldegheri.bsky.social

The book is FREE to download from www.multilingual-matters.com

13.08.2025 18:02 — 👍 6    🔁 6    💬 1    📌 0
A sign reading ‘It’s our birthday! 100 today’ in front of the National Library of Scotland building in Edinburgh.

A sign reading ‘It’s our birthday! 100 today’ in front of the National Library of Scotland building in Edinburgh.

🎪 The mayhem begins!

Celebrate with us! Doors open at 10am at George IV Bridge (Edinburgh) and Kelvin Hall (Glasgow). Be among the first 500 at each site to get your special edition centenary comic, created by Beano!

#NLS100 #Beano

07.08.2025 07:53 — 👍 153    🔁 40    💬 5    📌 7
Preview
Wikipedia Editors Adopt ‘Speedy Deletion’ Policy for AI Slop Articles “The ability to quickly generate a lot of bogus content is problematic if we don't have a way to delete it just as quickly.”

pay very close attention to Wikipedia to find a way out of the AI slop internet www.404media.co/wikipedia-ed...

05.08.2025 15:43 — 👍 2036    🔁 635    💬 10    📌 41
NEW WRITING SCOTLAND ASL is seeking applications to be a co-editor of New Writing Scotland, from writers currently based in Scotland. Applicants should have a strong publishing record of their own, with a focus on prose; previous editorial experience would be an advantage. The post will run for up to three years from 2026, for volumes 44, 45, and 46, publishing in 2026, 2027, and 2028 (dependent on funding). Our editors jointly select approximately 50 pieces – poetry and prose – from the English- and Scots-language submissions we receive each year. The submissions are anonymised, and we provide editors with paper copies to read. As an editor, we’d ask you to attend launches in Edinburgh and Glasgow (travelling expenses would be paid). Editors receive an annual £1500 stipend and full editorial credit. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from people who are under-represented within the sector, including from BPOC applicants (Black people and People of Colour), disabled people, LGBTQIA+ applicants and those from a low socioeconomic background. Please send a CV and a one-page application letter, outlining your qualifications for the position, to admin@asls.org.uk by midnight on Monday 4 August 2025. Submission to New Writing Scotland is free and open to all. You can find our submission instructions here.

NEW WRITING SCOTLAND ASL is seeking applications to be a co-editor of New Writing Scotland, from writers currently based in Scotland. Applicants should have a strong publishing record of their own, with a focus on prose; previous editorial experience would be an advantage. The post will run for up to three years from 2026, for volumes 44, 45, and 46, publishing in 2026, 2027, and 2028 (dependent on funding). Our editors jointly select approximately 50 pieces – poetry and prose – from the English- and Scots-language submissions we receive each year. The submissions are anonymised, and we provide editors with paper copies to read. As an editor, we’d ask you to attend launches in Edinburgh and Glasgow (travelling expenses would be paid). Editors receive an annual £1500 stipend and full editorial credit. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from people who are under-represented within the sector, including from BPOC applicants (Black people and People of Colour), disabled people, LGBTQIA+ applicants and those from a low socioeconomic background. Please send a CV and a one-page application letter, outlining your qualifications for the position, to admin@asls.org.uk by midnight on Monday 4 August 2025. Submission to New Writing Scotland is free and open to all. You can find our submission instructions here.

WRITERS!
New Writing Scotland seeks a new co-editor for English- & Scots-language work. Applicants should be currently based in Scotland & have a strong publishing record, with a focus on prose. Post is up to 3 years: stipend £1500 per issue.
#writers #writing
Pls RT 👇
asls.org.uk/new-writing-...

29.07.2025 15:34 — 👍 26    🔁 27    💬 1    📌 1
Preview
Martin Dewhirst reviews 'The Spy in the Archive: How one man tried to kill the KGB' by Gordon Corera - Rights in Russia Corera concludes that Mitrokhin ‘had been one of the very few who understood what was taking place. […] A hydra was rising again.’

Martin Dewhirst reviews 'The Spy in the Archive: How one man tried to kill the KGB' by Gordon Corera - #RightsinRussia www.rightsinrussia.org/dewhirst-24/

29.07.2025 09:30 — 👍 1    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
Explanatory Notice and Template for the Public Summary of Training Content for general-purpose AI models The Template annexed to this Explanatory Notice aims to provide a common minimal baseline for the information to be made publicly available in the Summary of Training Content for general-purpose AI mo...

BREAKING: The EU Commission has released a mandatory template for AI developers to disclose training data. Unlike the Code of Practice, this is not optional. It could have global fallout, as rights holders abroad might use it to sue over copyright.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e...

24.07.2025 10:10 — 👍 468    🔁 199    💬 6    📌 24
Two sides of a traditional trade union banner ("Glasgow Typographical Society / Instituted 1817"). One side shows a vaguely Classical scene with the mottos "Let there be light" and "Union is strength"; the other shows the interior of a printworks.

Two sides of a traditional trade union banner ("Glasgow Typographical Society / Instituted 1817"). One side shows a vaguely Classical scene with the mottos "Let there be light" and "Union is strength"; the other shows the interior of a printworks.

Banner of the Glasgow Typographical Society (1817), an early trade union founded by the letter-press printers of Glasgow.

Imagine carrying that at a rally, knowing that every single person present was surreptitiously checking the kerning.

(Pic: pistachio.gla.ac.uk/case-studies/)

22.07.2025 08:39 — 👍 44    🔁 8    💬 3    📌 0

I’m with @rsmythfreelance.bsky.social here on his wet blanket. Writers who try to render accents phonetically assume everyone reading speaks the same way they do – frequently RP. It’s extremely distracting to read on a page, often comes across as patronising and snobbish, and is sometimes baffling.

04.07.2025 09:37 — 👍 207    🔁 26    💬 30    📌 8
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Welcome to Balfron Book Festival, a brand new festival celebrating books & storytelling in the Stirlingshire village of Balfron. From author events & creative writing to family storytelling sessions,we’re excited to bring you a fun-filled programme for readers of all ages
www.balfronbookfestival.com

21.06.2025 00:21 — 👍 36    🔁 21    💬 2    📌 4
Preview
Giving “people like that” a Voice Agnes Owens was born in Milngavie, near Glasgow, in 1926. After a couple of years of gruelling travel, “marching” around the Highlands of Scotland with husband and baby looking for work, pitching t...

“I don’t write about people that are nice people. They’ve got to be sinners, with a wee touch of goodness here and there, you know.”

Giving “people like that” a voice: a conversation with Agnes Owens (1926–2014) – born #OTD, 24 May
A 🎂 🧵
1/5
journals.openedition.org/etudesecossa...

24.05.2025 13:49 — 👍 11    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 0
Image from the Financial Times, placing Keir Starmer next to Enoch Powell.

Image from the Financial Times, placing Keir Starmer next to Enoch Powell.

Starmer's language was deplorable.

It was grotesquely offensive, accusing people who have brought their gifts to this country of doing "incalculable" "damage"; & politically foolish, in endorsing Farage's claims of an establishment conspiracy.

But bad analogies with Powell miss the key problem. 🧵

14.05.2025 10:50 — 👍 911    🔁 369    💬 40    📌 99
Video thumbnail

Per @washingtonpost.com: 'President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress — the first woman and first African American to hold the position. She was informed of the decision in a terse, two-sentence email'.

#DrCarlaHayden #LibraryofCongress.

09.05.2025 11:36 — 👍 219    🔁 100    💬 8    📌 11
Preview
President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden President Donald Trump has abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.

Dr. Carla Hayden has been dismissed as Librarian of the Library of Congress with immediate effect.
Held in great respect by the profession, Dr Hayden was the 1st professional librarian to hold the post since '74, the 1st woman & the 1st African American to hold the post.
apnews.com/article/dona...

09.05.2025 07:19 — 👍 18    🔁 18    💬 0    📌 3
Post image 31.03.2025 08:15 — 👍 83    🔁 19    💬 1    📌 3

Oh dear. There are at least two meanings of the phrase "string composition": one relating to music and one relating to computer science.

It would appear that at least one LLM that is popular with students has not learned the difference between these meanings.

28.03.2025 10:37 — 👍 24    🔁 3    💬 2    📌 0
Post image Post image

So let’s have a little look at the Right wing media feeding off its own ecosystem.

Here’s
@TiceRichard
claiming NET ZERO caused the Heathrow shut down, while sharing a Telegraph article that appears to back up his claim

Must be true then, right??

🧐you know the drill…

🧵
1/

22.03.2025 10:45 — 👍 410    🔁 180    💬 28    📌 47
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All the writers are out on Threads today

22.03.2025 12:31 — 👍 8    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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We are disappointed but not surprised that Meta has used millions of pirated books to develop its AI systems.

As a matter of urgency, Meta needs to compensate the rightsholders of all the works it has been exploiting.

But what can authors do? Read here:
societyofauthors.org/2025/03/21/t...

21.03.2025 17:04 — 👍 1340    🔁 796    💬 24    📌 91

Developers stealing our books to build their AI is theft.

Publishers using that AI to do away with editors and artists and others is betrayal.

People before profit! Humans before machines!

*throws clog into loom*

21.03.2025 16:31 — 👍 48    🔁 11    💬 1    📌 0
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So Meta used two of my books and numerous articles to train its AI model.

And by used I mean "stole".

Is there a class action I can sign up?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

20.03.2025 16:44 — 👍 177    🔁 56    💬 14    📌 5

@read-edit.co.uk is following 20 prominent accounts