Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anna Gupta @annagupta.bsky.social · Sep 2

Great Yarmouth is set to host the biggest neo-nazi music festival in over a decade. The Home Office has the power to block entry of overseas bands, which will scupper the promoters plans. But they won’t act unless we demand it. Email the Home Office now: hopenothate.org.uk/2025/08/28/g...

Great Yarmouth to Host Britain’s Biggest White Power Concert in Years – HOPE not hate

Great Yarmouth is set to host the largest white power music gig held in the UK for at least 10 years, HOPE not hate can...

hopenothate.org.uk

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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · Aug 29

In fact the judgment does not turn on the ECHR (according to the summary)

Pontus Odmalm @podmalm.bsky.social · Aug 29

As clockwork (just hope no-one gets hurt over the weekend.)

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Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · Aug 20

"Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while their claims are being processed, which can take months, and sometimes years. They have absolutely no way of supporting themselves during that time, & yes, the State has a legal obligation not to let them starve" Frustrating it needs saying, but it does

From PlayStations to Spanish lessons: Debunking the Asylum “Freebies” List

What the headlines don’t tell you about housing, healthcare, and support for people who arrive with nothing.

open.substack.com

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Aug 20

The "culture war" is a contest for the collective imagination.

Reactionaries have a clear interest in
(a) promoting a benign view of the prevailing social order and its origins, and
(b) stamping out critical counter-narratives.

It's not a "distraction". It's a vital political struggle.

FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · Aug 19

Trump complains that the National Museum of African American History discusses "how bad Slavery was."

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Anna Gupta @annagupta.bsky.social · Aug 20

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Far-right anger over asylum hotels is destroying the very idea of refuge – and that’s probably the goal | Zoe Williams

The court ruling on the Bell hotel does not just legitimise anti-immigrant sentiment; it also risks erasing a whole category of people, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

www.theguardian.com

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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · Aug 20

Last night fighting an ex Liz Truss minister (for goodness sake) on Newsnight about what to do about asylum accommodation.

Pitch forks are dictating UK asylum policy now. 🤦‍♀️

My thanks as always to the brilliant @implausibleblog.bsky.social for the clip ❤️🙏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8auh...

Epping asylum hotel CLOSED BY MOB RULE? Where should they go?

YouTube video by Zoe Gardner

www.youtube.com

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · Aug 20

Far right groups are threatening to burn down hotels full of refugees at events attended by senior politicians, while people of colour live in fear after being falsely labelled as paedophiles

How mainstream politicians and media organisations are allowing a violent far right movement to spread

Where Is the Political Leadership Against This Violent Far-Right Movement Terrorising Britain?

The silence of senior mainstream politicians and media organisations against the rise of a new well-organised far-right movement on Britain's streets is a disgrace, argues Adam Bienkov

bylinetimes.com

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Aug 20

Far right demagoguery - thanks to crucial, repeated validation from the political mainstream - has painted a target on the back of every man of colour in this country.

Everyone knows what is likely to happen next.

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · Aug 20

Family in fear after Tommy Robinson shares video of black man with white granddaughters.

Exclusive: Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in park

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Family in fear after Tommy Robinson shares video of black man with white granddaughters

Exclusive: Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in park

www.theguardian.com

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Katherine Mackinnon @kamack.bsky.social · Aug 20

You can download A Handbook of Integration with Refugees: Global Learnings from Scotland, edited by @esaldegheri.bsky.social, @dx-fisher.bsky.social and @alisonphipps.bsky.social for free here: www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/...

A Handbook of Integration with Refugees

This book brings together the voices of academics, practitioners, and people seeking sanctuary to explore the processes of refugee integration. Situated in learnings from Scotland, the book offers the...

www.multilingual-matters.com

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Michael @therightarticle.bsky.social · Aug 20

Typical of the greedy rich to protest to protect their wealth and against improving the lives of those in poverty

‘Mansion tax’ would stall home sales and fuel exodus of super-rich, experts warn

The chancellor is reportedly planning to levy capital gains on the sale of first properties

www.independent.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · Aug 20

Poverty obstructs economic recovery.

16m Britons live in poverty
800,000 suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
1-in-200 households experiencing homelessness
1-in-4 young people have mental health conditions.
Scurvy/Rickets are back.
£39bn GDP a year lost due to poverty.

Must redistribute.

Our state has become a guarantor of corporate profits

Equitable distribution of income and wealth would go a long way towards stimulating domestic demand and investment...

leftfootforward.org

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The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 20

At 19 I had to flee my country, afraid for my life – without even saying goodbye to my family

Mohanad was a medical student in Sudan, but he had to leave in secret, hiding in a vegetable truck, until he reached Libya, where he was kidnapped repeatedly. That was only the start of his perilous journey

www.theguardian.com

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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Aug 15

“Merging truth with misinformation is once more straight out of the populist playlook: confuse people until they no longer know what to believe. Then, unable to believe anything at all, they are left only with feelings"

inews.co.uk/opinion/robe...

Robert Jenrick really needs to get over himself

The BBC is allowing itself to be kicked around like a political football

inews.co.uk

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Santa’s Little Helper @poems4themasses.bsky.social · Aug 15

What I want for myself and my kids, is a political system built around compassion rather than aggression: built around a global community, rather than isolated groups defined by race, religion, nationality and gender: built around people rather than wealth accumulation: @zackpolanski.bsky.social

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Aug 15

Outside Downing Street:

We'll keep raising our voices for Palestine.

End the Genocide.

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Dale Vince @dalevince.com · Aug 14

A 2% tax on wealth would only (mildly) affect 20,000 people but would generate £24bn each year that we can spend on fixing the country. End child poverty, improve the NHS, fix our schools and all that good stuff.

buff.ly/ssXrHMp

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Aug 12

It is inherently absurd to proscribe a group as terrorists based on acts the public doesn't know about. Terrorism *by definition* involves violence intended to intimidate a civilian population. How can the target population be terrorised by acts they know nothing about?

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Yvette Cooper: Some 'don't know the full nature' of Palestine Action

Defending the group's proscription under terror law, she said the organisation was "not a non-violent organisation".

www.bbc.com

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Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · Aug 13

“Court documents indicate how national security concerns were not a central factor in the Home Office’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action.

“Indeed, they barely feature in the government’s open evidence.”

👉 Revealed: How Palestine Action was banned

www.declassifieduk.org/revealed-how...

Revealed: How Palestine Action was banned

Exclusive: Documents seen by Declassified reveal serious concerns within the UK government and MI5 about proscribing Palestine Action.

www.declassifieduk.org

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Aug 11

Just a basic fact check. The UK by its own admission exports arms (F-35 parts) capable of being used in Gaza where the IDF has, amongst other things, pursued a vast, genocidal campaign of state terror.

"We" the British people may not support terrorists. But objectively the government does.

Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · Aug 11

@alexdaviesjones.bsky.social : "We don't support terrorists in the UK. Would you be asking me that if this was about the IRA?"

Madeley: "... the IRA planted bombs... Palestine Action isn't quite in the same league"

"... we do not support terrorists in this country" #GMB

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Anna Gupta @annagupta.bsky.social · Aug 11

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here’s the truth about Britain’s immigration hysteria: Starmer and co have whipped it up to get cheap votes | Nesrine Malik

He is part of a political establishment that is fuelling a crisis way beyond the point that they can ever be seen to solve it. It’s a cynical, idiotic doom loop, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com

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Anna Gupta @annagupta.bsky.social · Aug 9

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Targeted by the right, Britain’s asylum hotels are places of fear and disorder. Bad political decisions made it so | Daniel Trilling

In the frenzy of racism and culture warring, the issue of why hotels are used gets overlooked, says author Daniel Trilling

www.theguardian.com

Anna Gupta @annagupta.bsky.social · Jul 28

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Protesting over Gaza’s starvation feels like screaming into a void – but we mustn’t stop | Nesrine Malik

Political platitudes and a few trucks of aid won’t save the children dying now. But they show leaders can’t ignore public opinion for ever, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · Jul 27

Really inconsiderate of Gazan children to choose the school holiday period to starve to death and therefore force Freeman to confront her own complicity in genocide.

[But don't worry, she succeeds in blaming it all on Hamas and "very bad people."]

archive.ph/6auwd

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Sue Wilson MBE @suewilson91.bsky.social · Jul 25

Labour mistakenly seem to think that the way to fight the far-right is to become more like them.
They could be more wrong.
Good luck Zack!

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Jul 25

We need to make Labour more scared of losing votes & seats to the Green Party than to Reform.

My interview with the Huffington Post about why I'm asking for your vote to be the next leader of the Green Party.

👇🏼

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zack-p...

Exclusive: Green Party Frontrunner Zack Polanski On Trying To Make It From Outside 'Dull' Westminster

And why comments from his leadership rival made him particularly "upset".

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · Jul 26

The right has gone absolutely nuts. The Tory party is chewed up with its brexity failure and the prejudice ticket that once gave it power. Reform’s rise from their ashes is the toxic aftermath. And the media dance along like it’s all so exciting, rather than a goddam nightmare for us all.

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Henry Morris @mrhenrymorris.substack.com · Jul 26

The shit is really going to hit the fan when M&S realise they have multilingual staff working at the world's busiest airport.

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