Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

Netpol @netpol.org · 5h

Some British government ministers don't want anyone to talk about genocide in Gaza or Britain's complicity in it www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Telegraph headline: Shabana Mahmood: Some pro-Palestinian protesters don’t want peace in Middle East. Subheading: Home Secretary questions motives of some activists over marches held after Gaza peace deal struck

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 6h

Excellent Guardian piece on Aadhar, India's digital ID system, that captures the dilemma extremely well. Digital-by-default methods create huge convenience for some, double-down on social exclusion for others, and it is easy for their scope to rapidly expand www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Your basis to live is checked at each and every step’: India’s ID system divides opinion

Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches

www.theguardian.com

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Really important reminder of how Reform aren’t just Little Englanders, but part of an international far-right network which wants to take away fundamental rights we all take for granted - and wants to use “free speech” as a lever

Jane Bradley @bradleyjane.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.

www.nytimes.com

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Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 6h

Concerned about what the peace means for Palestinians? Concerned whether there will be peace at all? Concerned about accountability for the Israeli genocide? Shabana Mahmood has this to say to you.

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Yet another example of how the far right want to assert their rights in the name of our principles, in order to deny us ours in the name of theirs

Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Really important reminder of how Reform aren’t just Little Englanders, but part of an international far-right network which wants to take away fundamental rights we all take for granted - and wants to use “free speech” as a lever

Jane Bradley @bradleyjane.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

Dr. Jami Rogers @publicradionerd.bsky.social · 18h

THIS 👇👇

This isn’t recognized enough as a worldwide network. Steve Bannon is just one of the people who is ultra-connected across the EU, UK and USA.

Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Really important reminder of how Reform aren’t just Little Englanders, but part of an international far-right network which wants to take away fundamental rights we all take for granted - and wants to use “free speech” as a lever

Jane Bradley @bradleyjane.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Yet another example of how the far right want to assert their rights in the name of our principles, in order to deny us ours in the name of theirs

Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Really important reminder of how Reform aren’t just Little Englanders, but part of an international far-right network which wants to take away fundamental rights we all take for granted - and wants to use “free speech” as a lever

Jane Bradley @bradleyjane.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 18h

Really important reminder of how Reform aren’t just Little Englanders, but part of an international far-right network which wants to take away fundamental rights we all take for granted - and wants to use “free speech” as a lever

Jane Bradley @bradleyjane.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 1d

🎉 We've done it. We've passed 100,000 Green Party members!

📈 But we're not stopping there.

💚 Let's make hope normal again! Join the Green Party today!

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Andrew Fisher @fisherandrew79.bsky.social · 2d

My review of The Fraud, Paul Holden's explosive new book

"Holden’s book shows the contempt with which senior Labour figures around Keir Starmer hold not just the left, but also truth, decency and the law."

insidecroydon.com/2025/10/12/w...

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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 1d

I think the last few months have shown how describing a particular far right ethos as "anti-government" has kind of fallen apart

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Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 1d

Abolish the Home Office

Alison Phipps አሊሰን @alisonphipps.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Gaza PhD student ‘heartbroken’ as family blocked from entering the UK

Manar al-Houbi’s husband and children refused entry despite her winning a scholarship to cover tuition fees, living costs and housing for them all

www.theguardian.com

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 1d

Tremendously enlightening interview with Muhammad Shehada, well worth watching to the end for his insights into what the Gaza genocide means for us all

Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 4d

Is Israel's genocide finally over?

There's no better analyst to explain what this all means than the incredible Palestinian analyst Muhammad Shehada 👇👇👇

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vG...

Is The Genocide OVER? - Everything Explained By Muhammad Shehada

YouTube video by Owen Jones

www.youtube.com

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 1d

The deportation order derives from the crime of which he has now been exonerated.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1d

Sunday reading:

I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves.

This week’s piece:

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 2d

ok, 'resistance to fascism' rankings ok UK politicians

grade based on, do they:

1. call reform fascist (or racist or far-right)
2. call trump admin fascist
3. connect reform to global fascism
4. draw values contrast on immigration
5. support trans rights
6. attempt a coalition

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 2d

christ, i shudder to think what a UK version of this would show

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 2d

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

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Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 2d

Every day is a good day to point out that 92% of Reform's donations were found to come from figures and groups linked to the fossil fuel industry. @desmog.com

Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Has Accepted £2.3 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests, Climate Deniers, and Polluters Since 2019 Election

Reform UK has received more than £2.3 million from oil and gas interests, highly polluting industries, and climate science deniers since December 2019, amounting to 92 percent of the party’s donations...

www.desmog.com

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The Bar Council @thebarcouncil.bsky.social · 2d

The Bars, Faculty and Law Societies in the UK have come together and accused politicians of "irresponsible and dangerous" language that is putting lawyers at risk.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Lawyers warn of death threats after Reform and Tories' 'two-tier' claims

In an unprecedented intervention, six legal bodies, representing 250,000 lawyers, expressed “grave concern” over the language being used toward legal professionals

www.mirror.co.uk

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 2d

Glad to see Nigel Farage has finally remembered Nathan Gill, former leader of Reform in Wales - found guilty of taking bribes from Russia.

Maybe he'll now remember how much he took from Putin's propaganda broadcaster Russia Today for all his TV appearances when he was a MEP?

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Free Movement @freemovement.bsky.social · 2d

In case you missed it: Afghan judge succeeds in High Court challenge to refusal of resettlement | Sonia Lenegan

Afghan judge succeeds in High Court challenge to refusal of resettlement - Free Movement

A judge from Afghanistan has successfully challenged a refusal to bring him to the UK under the Afghan Assistance and Relocations Programme, meaning that the

freemovement.org.uk

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Reposted by Alasdair Mackenzie

Dr Eleanor Janega @goingmedieval.bsky.social · 2d

If I see you posting AI slop, it's an instant block. Even if you think it's cute or says a lot about society. If you are purporting that some AI slop is real news, I will report you for misinformation, and then block you. Sloppers should be marginalised.

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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 3d

“Here Farage is, in Gill’s office, with Voloshyn’s wife Nadia, on the day Gill makes an intervention on behalf of Medvedchuk’s channels, with an employee of one of those channels, whose husband started bribing Gill to make these statements 6 days earlier”

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/11/s...

'Stunned?' Farage's Admission He Knew Nathan Gill but Not His Kremlin Associates Does Not Stand Up to Scrutiny

Insiders have told Byline Times, it is 'inconceivable' the Reform Leader did not know about his close aide's pro Russian statements

bylinetimes.com

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 3d

At least one senior Labour official seems to finally remember they aren't in Reform.
The changes won't just harm economy and country, they'll destroy families and force more people into becoming undocumented, leading to more deportations. They need scrapping not pausing.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Sir Sadiq Khan calls for pause on new immigration rules

The mayor of London said the changes had "moved the goalposts".

www.bbc.com

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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 3d

So impressive

The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 3d

“Britain is a nation of neighbours, not strangers — and it’s time we built a politics of hope that reflects that.”

Zack Polanski with a message of unity and hope having been out door knocking Handsworth today.

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