Stunningly horrible tweet from the Home Office.

Tars everyone from 4 countries with
the same brush.

And so we write to brilliant postgraduate students from Sudan, withdrawing the offers and scholarships they won in open competition with the best in the world. A sad day for the University of Oxford.

Another EU membership benefit... solidarity in times of extreme duress.

1. Thread 🧵

Freedom of Movement wasn’t just a policy.
It was a simple freedom: the ability to say yes.

• Yes to a job.
• Yes to love.
• Yes to a new life in another country.

When that freedom disappeared, something subtle but important changed.

Photos of Alex Pretti with Sara’s caption: On August 16th at approximately 10:00 pm I received a call from the ICU at the VA saying my Dad had sepsis and needed to be intubated to stay alive so Josh and I headed in. We were greeted by the kindest, most calming and warm soul who helped us understand what was happening and showed deep care for us and my Dad. He continued to show utmost patience and kindness over the next few days as my Dad remained in the ICU and we were there continually. It was Alex Pretti, the man shot today by ICE. If you see this video and don't think it's murder, I don't understand your thinking and ask you to question your heart. He was out there trying to help and protect and from the little we knew of him, it doesn't surprise me he was not afraid to be on the front lines of this horrible scene in our Minneapolis. Weeping for his family and all those at the VA who no longer get to work with him or receive his care.

My friend Sara posted this about the superb care her father received from with Alex Pretti

Absolutely heartbreaking

What a great article.

The unseen effect of the mostly US tech driven businesses becoming gatekeepers to what we all used to enjoy (live music, experiences, stays etc) is that 15% or more of our money is leaving Wales and the UK along with all our data …whereas it used to recirculate.

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.

I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge.

Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots.

A thread 🧵 1/8
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone. We will not let hate or those who spread it win. We stand with you.

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

Do Not Put This On God None of this was God's plan.

"I sure as hell don’t think it was God’s plan for local officials to somehow not have implemented an effective warning system in the past 40 years, even with constant reminders that it was needed."

@charlotteclymer.bsky.social with a banger of a post here

Politicians seem to have conveniently forgotten about what essential workers went through during the pandemic and now apparently this government wants to basically vilify the same people that actually helped this country get through the pandemic . Absolutely shameful

Please repost, if like me, you will never accept Brexit.

It harms the British people. It was obtained through foreign interference and by far the worst abuses of democracy in modern British history, and it robs us of freedom and citizenship.

#RejoinEU

I only wrote this substack *yesterday* about the dangers of being a foreign student or academic in the US, but I am already having to update it as more disappearances and visa revocations happen.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/trumps-att...

Trump's attacks on universities get ever darker, with the shadows reaching our shores The US has become a hostile and authoritarian state to foreign scientists and is choosing ideology over science.

Colleagues are cancelling their US work trips. I worry that international colleagues in the US are at risk if they collaborate with us on certain topics.

I've written a new post about the increasing danger of being a foreign scientist in the US.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/trumps-att...

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told LBC: "We're different political traditions, but I think we've all been struck by the pace at which President Trump's new administration has come in and made a whole bunch of changes to the way that Washington and the way that government works. "We might look at some of those changes and think, well, they're not quite the changes we would make, from a centre-left perspective, but the speed at which they've operated, we've actually thought, you know what, we can go further and faster. We will, we are. That's what the prime minister's doing."

Ugh. I can’t tell you how much I dislike this. To witness such cruelty, incompetence, contempt for the law and think ‘let’s have some of that’… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Five years in prison for nonviolent protest: it’s plain wrong, and Keir Starmer knows it | Caroline Lucas If the courts let 16 climate activists’ draconian sentences stand this week, we are no better than an authoritarian state, says environmental activist and former Green MP Caroline Lucas

Oh come on Labour.....
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Cardiff: University confirms plans to cut 400 jobs Vice-chancellor Wendy Larner says

This is a national scandal. When will the government wake up and realise they are presiding over the rapid implosion of the UK's world-renowned university sector?

Snow on the beach and a glimpse of the sun, beautiful #Criccieth this morning #Cymru #NorthWales

This is a gigantic story that almost nobody seems to be talking about.

The chaos in incoming travel to Britain is scheduled to begin TODAY, 8 January 2025.
www.ceotodaymagazine.com/2025/01/uk-i...

We had a maths teacher who, hearing chatter behind him when writing on the blackboard would turn round and throw a board rubber. This was basically a solid wooden block with material on one side. c1970

#Attic24 Hydrangea blanket finished at last! Just have to wrap it up to give as a slightly late Christmas gift. Have sent for more yarn and looking forward to starting the next one. #crochet

The other great social media treat this time of year is Rhodri with #duvetknowitschristmas - see replies to his post and you’ll soon get what it’s about. (Don’t forget to donate to homeless if you can.)

Pelicot is seen smiling as she walks past women who are applauding her. They look emotional and one holds a sign up saying Merci Gisele

Photo of the Day, if not the Year.

Solidarity and admiration.

📸This brilliant photo of Gisele Pelicot, leaving court for the final time yesterday, was taken by Arnold Jerocki for Getty Images.

Steampunk dragon by US artist Sue Beatrice who creates steampunk sculptures and jewellery by recycling old watch parts

From a friend "..& from what I'm hearing a major part of the quay containing ramp area collapsed, we ain't talking repairs here, more like a complete rebuild" .. 'Holyhead will die"..
If it was still in the EU it'd be worth Stena investing in. As it is, it's not. Holyhead is fucked

Hmm. Liz Kendall sure changed her tune on the WASPI women issue. Screeching u-turn.

Here are a number of past examples (snapshots taken from her Twitter account) from back when she used to try and make electoral hay from their plight.

But now Labour are in power, hypocrisy is the order of the day.

From a friend: "Rumour that the damage done to Holyhead berths, although storm/ferry damage, was the initial problem, there is serious corrosion and lack of investment that is a large proportion of the problem. General opinion is it won't reopen this side of Christmas 1/2

Let’s collaborate & strengthen this #FollowBackFriday. With Trump weeks away from office, & much other dangerous global political turmoil, UK Govt must finally acknowledge the immense harm Brexit has done to its economy, global reach & reputation, & strengthen ties on all fronts with its EU allies

This is amazing. 1000's of ebooks and audio books for FREE! Every genre, every subject, FREE!

Rosie Duffield's resignation letter in full Duffield will now sit as an independent following her resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer on Saturday.

Wow, another Labour MP resigns.
Read Rosie Duffield’s resignation letter to Starmer, it’s devastating and filled with everything currently on the public’s mind as they try to comprehend his Tory heavy policies after promising ‘change’

news.sky.com/story/rosie-...

I started this #Attic24 Hydrangea blanket in the lockdown but then it became an unfinished project in a cupboard. Have picked it up again now and hoping to finish it in time to give as a Christmas gift. Enjoying #crochet