Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Conor Bollins

@conorbollins.bsky.social

450 followers 420 following 26 posts

🎓Lecturer in Early Modern History, UEA. 📚 Historian of #18thC Political Thought. ☮ Peace Activist, CND. 🦊Brother, uncle, etc.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Conor Bollins @conorbollins.bsky.social · May 18

🎓'When will Labour tackle the crisis engulfing our schools, colleges and universities?'

🌹Please stick a repost on my piece for @labouroutlook.bsky.social. #UKHE #EducationCrisis

🚩It includes a special mention of my @uea-ucu.bsky.social colleagues. #SaveUEA

labouroutlook.org/2025/05/17/e...

Education, education, education? When will Labour tackle the crisis engulfing our schools, colleges and universities?

All levels of our education system face a systemic crisis. Yet as with so many other areas of policy, Keir Starmer doesn't seem to have any hopes for education at all, writes Connor Bollins.

labouroutlook.org

2 23 33

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · 12d

Today is the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Britain should be marking it with ambitious steps to further the cause of nuclear disarmament. Instead, we see yet another breach of international law by Starmer.

Read more: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Headline from article in The Guardian newspaper with an image of an F-35A fighter jet. text reads: "Fighter jets purchase would put UK in breach of nuclear treaty, says CND. Legal opinion for campaign group says deal amounts to reversal of UK’s commitment to nuclear disarmament"

8 11

Reposted by Conor Bollins

James Whiting @jame54.bsky.social · 21d

educationpolitics.substack.com/p/pupil-well...

Pupil Well-being crisis. Will more militarism help?

Blog 45. Paty Paliokosta look at why pupil well-being in secondary schools is declining and Conor Bollins questions Starmer's commitment to increase militarism in schools

educationpolitics.substack.com

2 2

Reposted by Conor Bollins

James Whiting @jame54.bsky.social · Aug 19

open.substack.com/pub/educatio...

The Crisis Engulfing our Universities

Blog 44. Dr Conor Bollins asks when will Labour tackle the growing crisis, using his experience as a lecturer at UEA, as an example of the mess.

open.substack.com

2 3

Reposted by Conor Bollins

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 29d

UCU GS @drjogrady.bsky.social putting an end to weapons over wages at #TUC2025:

“Our country is broken… yet billions for bombs.

Cash found for weapons. No cash found for wages.” ✊

#WagesNotWeapons

4 12

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · 29d

British trade unionists, in a very significant vote, have backed a motion overturning previous support for the government’s military spending hikes. The #WagesNotWeapons motion passed by 2,871,000 votes to 2,291,000.

Read more: cnduk.org/wages-not-we...

Graphic with CND symbol and an image from TUC Congress showing UCU's Jo Grady visible on a large screen. She is wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "wages not weapons." Text below the image reads: "Wages not weapons: trade unions overturn support for military spending hikes."

3 16

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · 29d

Great to see the arguments put forward in the Alternative Defence Review feautered in this trade union debate on increased military spending. If you're at TUC Congress, pick up your copy at the CND stall or read online: cnduk.org/adr/

4 6

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Sep 6

Despite the British government's attempts to stifle and suppress peaceful protest, today saw yet another huge show of support for Palestine on the streets of London. This movement will not be silenced. We demand sanctions on genocidal Israel now!

10 21

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Sep 6

We're here at the 30th national march for Palestine. If you're attending, come visit our stall at Russell Square and pick up one of our placards. #EndTheGenocide #StopStarvingGaza

CND placards with slogans "end the genocide" and "nuclear-free Middle East"

8 22

Reposted by Conor Bollins

National Education Union @neunion.bsky.social · Aug 14

Congratulations to all receiving results today. The hard work and effort of students, teachers and those supporting them should be commended.🙌

1 2 4

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · Jul 27

Asked about the biggest threats to the UK, cyber attacks top the poll, though the youngest adults are more likely to be worried about nuclear conflict with another country. A plurality think our defence spending is about right, though 26% say too little and 21% too much.

1 2 6

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Jul 22

🌸In the run-up to Hiroshima Day 2025, we will be posting photos of our supporters wearing our NO MORE HIROSHIMAS t-shirt.
🌸Get yours to help spread this powerful message: cndukstore.com/no-more-hiro...
🌸Send us your photos and we’ll share those too! #NoMoreHiroshimas

3 15

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Jul 21

"It is just a shame that Starmer has decided to make militarism and warmongering 'the fundamental organising principle of government' rather than the promotion of people’s health and wellbeing."
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/stra...

The strategic defence review: why Labour would do better to invest elsewhere | Morning Star

morningstaronline.co.uk

2 12 18

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Jul 21

"Conventional wisdom says it was necessary to drop the bomb...but extensive scholarly research in the US shows that this just wasn’t true."

CND Vice-President Kate Hudson on the myths used to justify nuclear weapons from 1945 to today. #NeverAgain

labouroutlook.org/2025/07/19/h...

Hiroshima to Today: Confronting the Nuclear Threat

80 years on from the bombing of Hirsoshima and Nagasaki, Kate Hudson looks at the story behind it and sets out why the fight for nuclear disarmament is crucial today.

labouroutlook.org

3 7

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Jul 18

A report and photo gallery of Wednesday's incredibly poweful event in Parliament on remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki is now on our website. Thanks again to everyone who joined us and who contributed as guest speakers. #NeverAgain

cnduk.org/no-more-hiro...

No More Hiroshimas event in Parliament, 16 July - CND

It was standing room only for the powerful meeting in Parliament on Wednesday 16 July, to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Organised by Parliamentary CND, we...

cnduk.org

6 8

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP @bellribeiroaddy.bsky.social · Jul 18

Powerful @cnduk.bsky.social event in Parliament this week marking the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Honoured to speak about the links between nuclear weapons, racism and imperialism and the continuing urgency of disarmament.

#WelfareNotWarfare #NoMoreHiroshimas

Bell stands and reads from a paper while addressing a panel at a CND event in Parliament. Other panellists, including women and men of various ages, sit attentively beside her beneath the room’s carved wood panelling and patterned red wallpaper.

A large group of attendees at a CND event in a UK Parliamentary room pose together holding signs that read “No More Hiroshimas.” The room is richly decorated with red wallpaper and ornate light fittings. Participants wear orange lanyards to show they are visitors.

1 9 14

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament @cnduk.bsky.social · Jul 17

We had a packed meeting in Parliament yesterday to hear about the humanitarian cost of nuclear war. A special thanks to our guest speakers: the South African High Commissioner to the UK, and Kyoko Gibson, a second-generation survivor of the Hiroshima bombing for her moving testimony. #NeverAgain

His Excellency Jeremiah Nyamane Mamabolo, South African High Commissioner to the UK, and Kyoko Gibson hold a CND placard reading "No more Hiroshimas"

Speakers and attendees pose for photograph.

12 16

Reposted by Conor Bollins

ForcesWatch @forceswatch.bsky.social · Jul 15

"Our shared cultural memory must be wearing exceedingly thin if we, as a society, are ready to accept our sons and daughters being shipped off to fight in another brutal and fruitless war"

Check out this pertinent & powerful analysis by @conorbollins.bsky.social

labouroutlook.org/2025/06/26/d...

Don’t let Starmer recruit our young people to fight his wars

An in-depth look into Starmer's plans to recruit young people into the military - and why we must oppose them.

labouroutlook.org

1 4

Reposted by Conor Bollins

London CND @londonregioncnd.bsky.social · Jul 9

“Do we want the future of our young people to be defined by nukes and NATO or good jobs and education?”

SW London CND member @conorbollins.bsky.social explores Keir Starmer’s troubling military recruitment plans in this @LabourOutlook piece. #peacenotnukes

labouroutlook.org/2025/06/26/d...

Don’t let Starmer recruit our young people to fight his wars

An in-depth look into Starmer's plans to recruit young people into the military - and why we must oppose them.

labouroutlook.org

9 13

Reposted by Conor Bollins

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · Jul 10

Our statement on the Labour government’s escalating authoritarian crackdown on the Palestine solidarity movement.

We will not be silenced. We are the majority.

We urge you to join us on the streets of London next Saturday (19 July) and march for Palestine.

2 35 74

Conor Bollins @conorbollins.bsky.social · Jul 10

“this [Labour] government is a genocide-facilitating, nuclear proliferator, that has abandoned its political and economic sovereignty to the whims of the leader of a rogue state. It’s time to build something better than this.”

- Kate Hudson for @labouroutlook.bsky.social #peacenotnukes

labouroutlook.bsky.social @labouroutlook.bsky.social · Jul 10

Increasing militarism, adherence to Trump’s global agenda, and support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

@cnduk.bsky.social Vice-President Kate Hudson reviews Starmer’s foreign policy in his first year in office.

Starmer’s Foreign and ‘Defence’ Policies, One Year On – Kate Hudson, CND

Kate Hudson, CND, reviews Starmer's first year in office, with a look at the Government's increasing militarism, adherence to Trump's global agenda and support for Israel's genocide in Gaza.

labouroutlook.org

6 4

Conor Bollins @conorbollins.bsky.social · Jul 5

“Thinking is suffocated when debates are prevented, lectures banned and exhibitions cancelled, when the police enter institutions of higher education and prosecutors are imposed to ensure orthodoxy. An oppressive atmosphere of suspicion and accusation has endangered freedom of speech.” - D. Fassin

1 5

Reposted by Conor Bollins

labouroutlook.bsky.social @labouroutlook.bsky.social · Jun 26

In the wake of Starmer's military spending splurge, @conorbollins.bsky.social looks at Starmer's plans to recruit young people into the military - and why we must oppose them.

"Educators, youth social care workers & parents should pay particular attention"
labouroutlook.org/2025/06/26/d...

Don’t let Starmer recruit our young people to fight his wars

An in-depth look into Starmer's plans to recruit young people into the military - and why we must oppose them.

labouroutlook.org

8 11

Conor Bollins @conorbollins.bsky.social · Jun 26

Great piece of analysis from @camerongriffiths.bsky.social, from UEA IR, on the situation in Iran.

labouroutlook.bsky.social @labouroutlook.bsky.social · Jun 21

Israel’s warmongering has demonstrated the West's unwillingness to hold Israel and its leadership to account. The consequences for millions of Iranians could be dire.

Gone Rogue: Israel, Iran, and the Limits of International Law.
labouroutlook.org/20...

Gone Rogue: Israel, Iran, and the Limits of International Law

Israel’s warmongering has demonstrated the West's unwillingness to hold Israel and its leadership to account. The consequences for millions of Iranians could be dire.

labouroutlook.org

1 1

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Northumbria UCU Branch @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · Jun 20

✊🥂Huge congratulations to the whole @newcastleucu.bsky.social membership and team. Compulsory redundancies withdrawn. Sends a message to university management everywhere. Just shows what you can do with organisation, solidarity, and right on your side.

16 34

Reposted by Conor Bollins

Jo Grady @drjogrady.bsky.social · May 20

Excellent piece from UEA UCU committee member Conor Bollins who asks when will @teamlabouruk.bsky.social tackle the crisis engulfing our colleges and universties?

We need leadership and action now from the government.

Conor Bollins @conorbollins.bsky.social · May 18

Education, education, education? When will Labour tackle the crisis engulfing our schools, colleges and universities?

All levels of our education system face a systemic crisis. Yet as with so many other areas of policy, Keir Starmer doesn't seem to have any hopes for education at all, writes Connor Bollins.

labouroutlook.org

3 5