Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Jennifer Cobbe

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 5h

"Many of the deals OpenAI has struck — with chipmakers, cloud computing companies and others — are strangely circular. OpenAI receives billions from tech companies before sending those billions back to the same companies to pay for computing power and other services." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How OpenAI Uses Complex and Circular Deals to Fuel Its Multibillion-Dollar Rise

Here are seven unusual financial agreements helping to drive the ambitions of the poster child of the A.I. revolution.

www.nytimes.com

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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 7h

#HostileEnvironment at Home Office. Labour stoking it not controlling it.

"23,500 people have received letters from HMRC as part of a crackdown on child benefit fraud launched by cabinet minister Georgia Gould".

"Very sorry" doesn't pay bills
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Woman who booked flight to Italy but did not board has child benefits stopped

Family denied entry at gate after one of her children had epileptic fit, but HMRC said she boarded one-way flight

www.theguardian.com

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 6h

One down, sixteen to go. No princes, no kings

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

Abolish the monarchy

It’s more than Prince Andrew – the whole House of Windsor is rotten to the core

www.newstatesman.com

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 1d

This story gets more ridiculous by the day

But now we know airlines are giving passenger data to the Home Office, who are passing information about travel* to HMRC, who then use it to make decisions about stopping benefits

(*or, in this case, not travel)

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Morris-Almond is one of 23,500 people who have had their child benefit stopped by HMRC in the past few weeks as part of the government’s crackdown on benefit fraud.

But unlike many others, she did not encounter border control or travel to an airport, suggesting that the Home Office immigration operations could have had access to passenger records.

In response to earlier inquiries, the Home Office said operators of international passenger services were “required by law to provide information to the Home Office about each service and the people onboard for international journeys to and from the UK”.

They said the information was needed for immigration, customs and police purposes including border security and law enforcement.

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Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 4d

In @yougov.co.uk polling of the trans community, to the best of our knowledge the first of its kind ever conducted, an astonishing 84% said Britain is “fairly unsafe” or “very unsafe” for trans people.
goodlaw.social/ncfw

‘Abject terror’: survey shows 84% of trans people feel Britain is unsafe

YouGov poll reveals safety crisis for trans people in the UK

goodlaw.social

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 3d

Want to take a week or so off over Christmas like you could do in many other jobs? And not spend half the time working anyway? Denied!

Academic work-life balance is broken and this sort of thing is part of the problem

Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 3d

Why put the submission deadline this close to the Christmas break. Why do that to people

ACM FAccT @facct.bsky.social · 14d

We’re excited to release the Call for Papers for #FAccT2026 which will be held in Montreal, Canada in June 2026! Abstracts are due on January 8th, papers due on January 13th.

Call for Papers: facctconference.org/2026/cfp

Important info in thread →

ACM FAccT - 2026 CFP

facctconference.org

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 4d

This is beyond stupid. People flying out from Belfast and back through Dublin having child benefit stopped because HMRC assumes they've left the country

I know GB forgets Northern Ireland exists, but what are they playing at

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

Parents in Northern Ireland have had their child support payments stopped as part of the UK government’s crackdown on alleged benefit fraud simply because they returned from a holiday via Dublin airport.

So far 346 families have had their benefits frozen, an investigation by NI online newspaper, the Detail, shared with the Guardian, has discovered.

The extraordinary mistake comes in the wake of a new anti-fraud system designed to track those who leave the country but do not come back after eight weeks, raising a red flag at HMRC for possible emigration.

The problem in Northern Ireland is many families routinely fly out of Belfast but return via Dublin, which is often cheaper and offers many more flights, leaving HMRC with the impression a passenger has not returned.

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks Samsung

Pop up from Samsung browser saying "we found 0 tabs you may want to close"

Reposted by Jennifer Cobbe

timoconnorbl.bsky.social @timoconnorbl.bsky.social · 7d

And let us be clear: the judge said the Parachute Regiment murdered people and lied about it, in roughly as many words.

Because of delay and lies, it couldn’t be proven to the criminal standard which individuals murdered; but those troops murdered and lied.

www.judiciaryni.uk/files/judici...

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Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 7d

Of course while Powell’s speech was a) repellently racist and b) rightly condemned by the contemporary Tory party, he was only calling for voluntary departures.

The current Conservative policy is worse and more unjust, demanding forced removals of legal residents. We’re in a very, very bad place.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · Feb 9

"Hence the urgency of implementing now the second part of the Conservatives policy - the encouragement of re-emigration."

Wait - that's not @rcolvile.bsky.social below (though it's what he's arguing).

It's Powell's Rivers of Blood speech.

www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

It’s mad to give migrants leave to remain when we’ve no idea if they contribute

Britain cannot afford to give a route to long-term residency and citizenship to thousands or eventually millions of new arrivals who will cost the country

www.thetimes.com

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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 9d

This power isn't discretionary or enabling. The clause would *automatically* remove ILR if any of the conditions are satisfied. Parliament can do this, but when it previously has, it's been in unusual/extreme situations. Like WW1 and the deprivation of titles from certain foreign nationals.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 9d

Via @sundersays.bsky.social the Conservatives' draft legislation - absolutely clear that it applies to (and is intended to apply to) legal permanent residents claiming state pension (on the basis of their contributions) or child benefit for British kids.

publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...

Revocation of Indefinite Leave to Remain in certain circumstances Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom is revoked with respect to a person (“P”) if any of the following conditions apply. Condition 1 is that P is defined as a “foreign criminal” under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007. Condition 2 is that P was granted indefinite leave to remain after the coming into force of this Act, but would not be eligible for indefinite leave under the requirements of section 2. Condition 3 is that P, or any dependents of P, have been in receipt of any form of “social protection” (including housing) from the UK Government or 5 10 15 20 25 30 353 Immigration and Visas Bill Part 3—VISAS a local authority, where “social protection” is defined according to the Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, subject to any further definition by immigration rules. (5) (6) (7) (8) 4 5 (1) (2) (3) (4) (1) Condition 4 is that P’s annual income has fallen below £38,700 for six months or more in aggregate during the relevant qualification period, or subsequent to receiving indefinite leave to remain.

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Danielle Blake @abradacabla.bsky.social · 9d

This is all horrifyingly cruel but condition 3 is staggeringly awful: “if P OR dependents of P have been in receipt of social protection”

So just if a *dependent* of someone with ILR gets any sort of welfare benefit whatsoever the original person can have their ILR revoked? This is insanely evil.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 9d

The Conservatives have drafted the legislation.

ANY one of the conditions being met leads to ILR being revoked.

If annual income falls below £38,700 for six months (for any reason at all)

The Secretary of State would also have the powers add whatever further conditions they want.

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Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 10d

where's the bit where they say it's bad, instead of just repeating what the policy is?

Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 10d

Labour spokesman

“The Tories want to retrospectively change the rules to deport people who have been in this country and contributed to our society for decades. They would separate British children from their parents and expel doctors and nurses who have been serving patients in the NHS for years."

Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 10d

Worth saying that despite asking for more than 12 hours we’ve had nothing back from Labour on this

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 11d

The thing is,we've all now seen who Labour are under Starmer. Even if they pivot left to try to save themselves, we all know they have no principles or values. We know they'd go back to chasing Reform the second they thought it would be better for them

Who wants that?

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 11d

How is it taking them this long to work this out?

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Teabree Shark @nurse.fish · 14d

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Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · 16d

The European Convention on Human Rights is being misrepresented in the UK, says former Supreme Court President Lady Hale👇

🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... via @the-independent.com

“It seems so short-sighted. I’m sorry, I’m really, really worried about it.”

#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms

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David Allsopp @doublehelix.bsky.social · 16d

Good thing the UK NHS is offering the vaccine to <checks notes> almost nobody under 75 🙄

Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 17d

Well now, would you look at that?

A massive study of NEARLY 300,000 people in the United States found that receiving an updated 2024-2025 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine REDUCED people’s risk of severe disease AND death in ALL age groups, REGARDLESS of immunity from prior infection or vaccination.

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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 17d

NEWS: "Wage growth slows slightly over summer" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK UNIVERSITY WORKERS: "What is this mythical wage growth of which they speak?"

Wage growth slows slightly over summer

Annual growth in employees' average earnings was 4.7% in the three months to August.

www.bbc.co.uk

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 25d

‘The current members of the Supreme Court, ten men and two women, all of them white, seem to regard the Human Rights Act as an unwelcome remnant of a past era.’

In his final piece for the 𝘓𝘙𝘉, Conor Gearty writes on the Supreme Court’s reinterpretation of the HRA: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act

The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 17d

He is less direct about - but does not leave unsaid - the implication that, in ignoring human rights law, the Supreme Court in FWS created a legal situation which itself is potentially incompatible with the UK's human rights obligations

The European Court of Human Rights (the Court) has recognised that, the very essence of the
European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) being respect for human dignity and human
freedom, it guarantees the right of trans people to personal development and to physical and moral
security. Gender identity is covered as an aspect of private life under Article 8 of the Convention. This
protection entails an obligation to provide for legal gender recognition, in order to avoid the
unsatisfactory situation in which trans people live in an “intermediate zone [as] not quite one gender or
the other” (Christine Goodwin v. the United Kingdom). The Court has further emphasised the
importance of the impact on trans people of a discordance between their social reality and the law, with
the coherence of the administrative and legal practices within the domestic system being an important
factor in assessing whether there has been a violation of Article 8 (Hämäläinen v. Finland).
It should be ensured that steps taken towards implementing the Supreme Court judgment avoid a
situation where a person’s legal gender recognition is voided of practical meaning, to the extent that it
leaves trans people in an unacceptable “intermediate zone”. Where possible, inconsistencies within the
domestic system, particularly with regard to the interplay between key legal frameworks such as the
Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act, which could lead to legal uncertainty or to dissonance
between the lived experiences of trans people and their treatment in law, should be avoided. It is also
to be recalled that not all trans people wish to obtain legal gender recognition, and in reality simply live
according to their gender identity. This does not in any way diminish their right to be treated with dignity,
to be protected from discrimination, and to be able to participate in all areas of everyday life.

Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 17d

Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights is clear that if the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance on trans people is as expected, it will be essentially impossible to reconcile with the UK's human rights obligations

rm.coe.int/letter-to-pa...

As I note in my end-of-visit statement, I observe a tendency to see the human rights of different groups
as a zero-sum game. This has contributed to narratives which build on prejudice against trans people
and portray upholding their human rights as a de facto threat to the rights of others. Such a zero-sum
approach risks certain inferences being drawn from the UK Supreme Court judgment that could lead to
widespread exclusion of trans people from many public spaces. This, in turn, may severely infringe on
their ability to participate fully and equally in society. This is particularly the case, as discussions about
how access to services and facilities will have to be regulated following the judgment have tended
towards the exclusion of trans people. It would therefore be crucial for all stakeholders to receive clear
guidance on how inclusion of trans people can be achieved across all areas, and how exclusion can be
minimised to situations in which this would be strictly necessary and proportionate, in line with well
established human rights principles. In reality, tensions between the human rights of different groups in
this context are likely to be exceptional in nature, and resolvable through nuanced, reasonable and
balanced accommodations. This would also be in line with the approaches taken by various bodies of
the Council of Europe (such as the Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) or the Group of
Experts on Violence Against Women (GREVIO)), which recognise the particular vulnerability of trans
people, and which begin from the position of their inclusion within spaces according to their gender
identity – with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis as necessary.
Another area of concern is that blanket practices or policies on access to gender-segregated spaces
could be put in place, which would require trans people to habitually “out” themselves publicly when
accessing services or facilities, either directly (by being asked about their…

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 17d

The rhoticity! Most (all?) US accents are rhotic - most (but not all!) English accents are not

Though it gets more complicated with rhotic English, Scottish, and Irish accents - which I think is why guesses at identifying my Belfast accent range from Scottish to Canadian

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 17d

Mind you I'm currently battling a voice transcription app that insists on spelling "how" as "high", "now" as "nigh", and "power" as "par"

Not built for Belfast speakers

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Jennifer Cobbe @jennifercobbe.bsky.social · 17d

This is like when I discovered about a year ago that 'Waze' - which with a Belfast accent I always thought was an odd name - makes sense for a navigation app when pronounced the English way

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