Jonathan Potts
@uccellolirico.bsky.social
I post mainly about politics, especially immigration and asylum, and the arts, especially music and sometimes poetry. Ex-civil service and volsec. HO Asylum Director 1996-2000, plus ça change.
Pinned
Jonathan Potts
@uccellolirico.bsky.social
· Jul 15
This may seem strange, but working on policy in the UK Home Office in my twenties and thirties taught me that everyone should have rights under the law no matter how society views them, and that many who society despises are themselves survivors of trauma and deprivation in one way or another.
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Vital piece on attempts to frame all surrogacy as trafficking & the coalitions pushing & opposing this.
Important insights into the transphobia & attacks on reproductive freedoms involved, by @mayal-n.bsky.social @gaatw.bsky.social for our solidarity series @beyondslavery.bsky.social
Important insights into the transphobia & attacks on reproductive freedoms involved, by @mayal-n.bsky.social @gaatw.bsky.social for our solidarity series @beyondslavery.bsky.social
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms. We’re ready
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms. We’re ready
Radical feminists and religious groups teamed up against sex work. Now they’re going after broader reproductive freedoms
bit.ly
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Vital piece on attempts to frame all surrogacy as trafficking & the coalitions pushing & opposing this.
Important insights into the transphobia & attacks on reproductive freedoms involved, by @mayal-n.bsky.social @gaatw.bsky.social for our solidarity series @beyondslavery.bsky.social
Important insights into the transphobia & attacks on reproductive freedoms involved, by @mayal-n.bsky.social @gaatw.bsky.social for our solidarity series @beyondslavery.bsky.social
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
I'm not going back to Substack. I will continue to post my newsletters from Ghost. But I did have to get back in there, just to post this and let people who thought I'd vanished know about this utter nightmare: substack.com/home/post/p-...
An Explanation (Which I Would Be Very Grateful If You Took The Time To Read)
What follows is a minor modern horror story.
substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I'm not going back to Substack. I will continue to post my newsletters from Ghost. But I did have to get back in there, just to post this and let people who thought I'd vanished know about this utter nightmare: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
"Trans people could be asked about whether they should be accessing single-sex services based on their physical appearance."
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trans people could be barred from services based on appearance
The new code of practice on access to single-sex services cannot gain legal force until it gets sign-off from ministers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Trans people could be asked about whether they should be accessing single-sex services based on their physical appearance."
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Obvious pattern here.
Justice system collapse = fault of criminals
Immigration failures = fault of migrants
Superficial, blame-based policies = avoiding the real challenges
Justice system collapse = fault of criminals
Immigration failures = fault of migrants
Superficial, blame-based policies = avoiding the real challenges
MoJ to remove right to trial by jury for thousands of cases in controversial overhaul
MoJ to remove right to trial by jury for thousands of cases in controversial overhaul
Exclusive: Courts minister says change needed to stop criminals opting for juries to delay cases, sometimes by years, and clear huge backlog
*
UK politics live – latest updates
Criminals will be stopped from “gaming the system” by choosing trial by jury in order to increase the chances of proceedings collapsing, the courts minister has said, promising to enact radical changes to limit jury trials by the next election.
Drug dealers and career criminals were “laughing in the dock” knowing cases can take years to come to trial, Sarah Sackman told the Guardian, saying inaction would be a road to “chaos and ruin”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Obvious pattern here.
Justice system collapse = fault of criminals
Immigration failures = fault of migrants
Superficial, blame-based policies = avoiding the real challenges
Justice system collapse = fault of criminals
Immigration failures = fault of migrants
Superficial, blame-based policies = avoiding the real challenges
The appointment of Chris Wormald as Cabinet Secretary remains a puzzle for several reasons, among them that it will have been clear at the time that he was in line for criticism by the Inquiry. Though I don't suppose he is vulnerable on that count.
November 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
The appointment of Chris Wormald as Cabinet Secretary remains a puzzle for several reasons, among them that it will have been clear at the time that he was in line for criticism by the Inquiry. Though I don't suppose he is vulnerable on that count.
I missed the earlier interviews on #Today but we seem to have had a lckdown-skeptic scientist, and (which I did hear) Michael Gove gently rubbishing the Covid Inquiry (with help from Justin Webb) and brushing off misogynistic rants as people working under stressful conditions, or something.
November 21, 2025 at 8:30 AM
I missed the earlier interviews on #Today but we seem to have had a lckdown-skeptic scientist, and (which I did hear) Michael Gove gently rubbishing the Covid Inquiry (with help from Justin Webb) and brushing off misogynistic rants as people working under stressful conditions, or something.
It is superb, and I feel lucky to own a copy.
'It is the best anthology of new work that I’ve read in years; anyone with an interest in contemporary British poetry should read it.' - Billy Mills
Last few copies of 'The Footing': our first (and, to date, only) anthology (unlikely to be reprinted)
thefooting.wordpress.com
Last few copies of 'The Footing': our first (and, to date, only) anthology (unlikely to be reprinted)
thefooting.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
It is superb, and I feel lucky to own a copy.
This must have been the easiest Inquiry finding in history. The real question is how could it so readily be allowed to happen? There are no limits to the powers of political advisers save weak convention, and the permanent civil service has no effective powers with which to challenge overreach.
Covid Inquiry finds Cummings created a culture of fear and likely contravened the SPAD code.
November 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
This must have been the easiest Inquiry finding in history. The real question is how could it so readily be allowed to happen? There are no limits to the powers of political advisers save weak convention, and the permanent civil service has no effective powers with which to challenge overreach.
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
My portrait of Lord Dubs will be in the immigration and asylum section of the Rebellion! exhibition along with his story and three other positive stories about people who were granted asylum.
Alf Dubs is a 92 year old man who spent his life fighting for refugees, and in particular for refugee children. He fought the Tories tooth and nail during their last three terms, only to see Labour adopt far-right policies on immigration.
“But to use children as a weapon ... I’m lost for words.”
“But to use children as a weapon ... I’m lost for words.”
Labour Peer Who Fled The Nazis Condemns His Party's Immigration Crackdown
Lord Dubs said he was "lost for words".
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 9:09 AM
My portrait of Lord Dubs will be in the immigration and asylum section of the Rebellion! exhibition along with his story and three other positive stories about people who were granted asylum.
Didn't expect Labour to be radical on asylum but the lack of imagination is shocking. They *could* have drawn up an evidence-based plan that gripped the task and disappointed only hardline racists. But instead of evidence we get myths and lies; instead of grip, talk; instead of progress, more damage
November 18, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Didn't expect Labour to be radical on asylum but the lack of imagination is shocking. They *could* have drawn up an evidence-based plan that gripped the task and disappointed only hardline racists. But instead of evidence we get myths and lies; instead of grip, talk; instead of progress, more damage
Idk which genius - Campbell? - had the idea that spokespeople repeating the same buzz phrases over and over would imprint your mission on the public mind. It just sounds shallow and inauthentic. When I hear "vile traffickers" for the 300th time I know the person saying it has nothing real to say
November 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Idk which genius - Campbell? - had the idea that spokespeople repeating the same buzz phrases over and over would imprint your mission on the public mind. It just sounds shallow and inauthentic. When I hear "vile traffickers" for the 300th time I know the person saying it has nothing real to say
We will break the business model of the vile traffickers ... by setting up a rival trade in misery of our own.
November 18, 2025 at 8:29 AM
We will break the business model of the vile traffickers ... by setting up a rival trade in misery of our own.
This is an important point. The Home Office is neither resourced nor equipped to take timely, effective decisions even under the current framework (and there is no chance that it will be). Complicating the framework further is going to be unmanageable.
So is the government going to lift the restrictions?
Next - reducing protection visas to 30 months is not only cruel but unworkable by this Home Office (under any administration over the past 20 years). Any claim that requires an assessment of risk on return sits undecided for months, often years 3/
Next - reducing protection visas to 30 months is not only cruel but unworkable by this Home Office (under any administration over the past 20 years). Any claim that requires an assessment of risk on return sits undecided for months, often years 3/
November 18, 2025 at 8:25 AM
This is an important point. The Home Office is neither resourced nor equipped to take timely, effective decisions even under the current framework (and there is no chance that it will be). Complicating the framework further is going to be unmanageable.
Refugees have invariably suffered any manner of losses - family, loved ones, friends, jobs, homes, earnings, possessions, freedoms, standing, dignity, mental wellbeing, physical integrity. Merely to threaten them with the forfeiture of what little they still hold is sadistic, psychopathic even.
November 17, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Refugees have invariably suffered any manner of losses - family, loved ones, friends, jobs, homes, earnings, possessions, freedoms, standing, dignity, mental wellbeing, physical integrity. Merely to threaten them with the forfeiture of what little they still hold is sadistic, psychopathic even.
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
It's simple: either we uphold academic freedom for everyone or none of us will have it.
Consistency means no interference regardless who the speaker are. You don't like them - don't come, or come and ask questions, or stand outside with a sign. Don't cancel the event.
Consistency means no interference regardless who the speaker are. You don't like them - don't come, or come and ask questions, or stand outside with a sign. Don't cancel the event.
The LMU announces the cancellation of a seminar on the topic "the targeting of Palestinian academia". The cancellation announcement is titled "LMU as a place of pluralistic discourse". Couldn't make this up.
www.lmu.de/en/about-lmu...
www.lmu.de/en/about-lmu...
LMU as a place of pluralistic discourse
Statement on the Planned Event “The Targeting of the Palestinian Academia” at LMU Munich
www.lmu.de
November 17, 2025 at 8:54 PM
It's simple: either we uphold academic freedom for everyone or none of us will have it.
Consistency means no interference regardless who the speaker are. You don't like them - don't come, or come and ask questions, or stand outside with a sign. Don't cancel the event.
Consistency means no interference regardless who the speaker are. You don't like them - don't come, or come and ask questions, or stand outside with a sign. Don't cancel the event.
Behind Mahmood's rhetoric is, I suspect, a conviction she shares with the majority of her recent (post-1980s) predecessors: that every asylum applicant to the UK is in some way gaming the system - either because they aren't really a refugee, or because they are but failed to choose safety en route >
November 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Behind Mahmood's rhetoric is, I suspect, a conviction she shares with the majority of her recent (post-1980s) predecessors: that every asylum applicant to the UK is in some way gaming the system - either because they aren't really a refugee, or because they are but failed to choose safety en route >
It's worth saying that all the energy going into devising, toying with, communicating and then possibly implementing futile and unpleasant anti-asylum measures, is energy not available for more constructive thinking and doing - managing cases, integration, co-operating with other countries.
November 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
It's worth saying that all the energy going into devising, toying with, communicating and then possibly implementing futile and unpleasant anti-asylum measures, is energy not available for more constructive thinking and doing - managing cases, integration, co-operating with other countries.
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Michala Clante Bendixen sends a Danish warning to the UK – @lbc.co.uk
I work with refugees in Denmark - copying our asylum system will backfire on Britain | LBC
Creating barriers that are impossible to overcome and a hostile approach to newcomers and minorities will backfire on any country, writes Michala Clante Benedixen
www.lbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Michala Clante Bendixen sends a Danish warning to the UK – @lbc.co.uk
The Interior Ministry model has only really been in place since 2007. Before that, the Home Office had wide-ranging justice and community cohesion responsibilities, and policy officials - I was one - moved between areas, gathering and bringing a range of perspectives 1/
Immigration policy needs to be taken away from the home office. They’ve failed to balance economic effects, humanitarian obligations and border control.
It is so cross cutting it should probably go to the Cabinet office . The HO can then focus on the borders bit while the policy is done elsewhere
It is so cross cutting it should probably go to the Cabinet office . The HO can then focus on the borders bit while the policy is done elsewhere
Unsurprising Labour Govt has gone down rabbit hole of talking as if asylum-seeking can be ended.
They listen to immigration officials, in a fantasy island isolated even from other civil servants.
When Diane Abbott was Shadow Home Sec, she made no attempt to create an alternative policy. But…
They listen to immigration officials, in a fantasy island isolated even from other civil servants.
When Diane Abbott was Shadow Home Sec, she made no attempt to create an alternative policy. But…
November 17, 2025 at 11:46 AM
The Interior Ministry model has only really been in place since 2007. Before that, the Home Office had wide-ranging justice and community cohesion responsibilities, and policy officials - I was one - moved between areas, gathering and bringing a range of perspectives 1/
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Mahmoud has listened to same clique of senior Home Office officials who have advised for 30+ years that loud announcements of punitive policies will deter refugees from coming to UK to seek asylum.
Labour did this extensively last time. It didn’t work.
A history thread. +
Labour did this extensively last time. It didn’t work.
A history thread. +
November 17, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Mahmoud has listened to same clique of senior Home Office officials who have advised for 30+ years that loud announcements of punitive policies will deter refugees from coming to UK to seek asylum.
Labour did this extensively last time. It didn’t work.
A history thread. +
Labour did this extensively last time. It didn’t work.
A history thread. +
Well as it happens I met a man last night, who will be 90 next year. As a child in the Netherlands he came close to being murdered by the Nazis. He settled in Britain long ago, and enjoyed a successful career here.
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Well as it happens I met a man last night, who will be 90 next year. As a child in the Netherlands he came close to being murdered by the Nazis. He settled in Britain long ago, and enjoyed a successful career here.
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ and dividing country, home secretary says
Shabana Mahmood to unveil new proposals modelled on Denmark’s controversial system
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
A less reported element of the asylum proposals: AI to be used for age determination. Oddly the HO, which always swore blind it had effective age testing methods, now admits these weren't always accurate as a reason for switching to the modish technology. Which we all know will work a dream ...
November 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
A less reported element of the asylum proposals: AI to be used for age determination. Oddly the HO, which always swore blind it had effective age testing methods, now admits these weren't always accurate as a reason for switching to the modish technology. Which we all know will work a dream ...