Diamond Ashiagbor
@diamondashiagbor.bsky.social
professor of law, university of birmingham | labour, EU, equality, race & colonialism | editor, European Law Open | FAcSS | fixed-term member, Matrix Chambers | trustee, Black Cultural Archives
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7533-8853
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7533-8853
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
“People are blaming republicans for food prices and flight cancellations and health insurance costs and are furious about gilded ballrooms and Gatsby parties and the president is falling asleep on tv and is the most deeply unpopular president in history, time to cave” is a hell of an argument
November 9, 2025 at 8:55 PM
“People are blaming republicans for food prices and flight cancellations and health insurance costs and are furious about gilded ballrooms and Gatsby parties and the president is falling asleep on tv and is the most deeply unpopular president in history, time to cave” is a hell of an argument
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Panorama made a stupid editing mistake. But compare this to the deliberate and systemic attempt, sustained across years, to ensure that BBC output aligns ever more closely to the demands of economic power. Against your straw of bias, I raise you a haystack.
November 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Panorama made a stupid editing mistake. But compare this to the deliberate and systemic attempt, sustained across years, to ensure that BBC output aligns ever more closely to the demands of economic power. Against your straw of bias, I raise you a haystack.
Absolutely. I would love to be able to listen again to BBC News without despairing at how craven it is to a right wing agenda and language. For instance, persistently mis-describing asylum seekers as ‘illegal migrants’
The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf, rebuild trust and resist those like Nigel Farage who want to destroy it
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Absolutely. I would love to be able to listen again to BBC News without despairing at how craven it is to a right wing agenda and language. For instance, persistently mis-describing asylum seekers as ‘illegal migrants’
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Which one is more English?
November 6, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Which one is more English?
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
An entire segment of the population is being repeatedly told that ’illegal immigration‘ - which is in fact barely 5% of immigration - is the dominant problem in this country. This is a media-driven phenomenon.
A case study in far right propaganda success. Tory governments run down public services over decades & then the the populist right breeds in ruined communities by scapegoating Black & brown immigrants.
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Buxton: Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
How national concerns affected a local election in the heart of the Peak District.
www.bbc.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:17 AM
An entire segment of the population is being repeatedly told that ’illegal immigration‘ - which is in fact barely 5% of immigration - is the dominant problem in this country. This is a media-driven phenomenon.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
A case study in far right propaganda success. Tory governments run down public services over decades & then the the populist right breeds in ruined communities by scapegoating Black & brown immigrants.
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Buxton: Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
How national concerns affected a local election in the heart of the Peak District.
www.bbc.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:33 AM
A case study in far right propaganda success. Tory governments run down public services over decades & then the the populist right breeds in ruined communities by scapegoating Black & brown immigrants.
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Farage: epic grifter
October 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Farage: epic grifter
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
It's a very, very large number of people who've just been told to "go home" by HM's opposition. Add their friends, relatives and supporters and you have an enormous chunk of the voting population. Without those people's votes, the Labour Party is finished. It needs to be made to understand that.
Senior Labour figures have expressed dismay at the Party's "cowardly" and "incompetent" response to Tory shadow minister Katie Lam calling for legal migrants to "go home".
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
Exclusive: Labour Anger Erupts Over Party's Response To Katie Lam Immigration Row
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 9:23 AM
It's a very, very large number of people who've just been told to "go home" by HM's opposition. Add their friends, relatives and supporters and you have an enormous chunk of the voting population. Without those people's votes, the Labour Party is finished. It needs to be made to understand that.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
October 21, 2025 at 10:47 AM
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
“You need to vote for us to stop Reform” is hardly going to work as a campaign slogan when you won’t even criticize a Tory MP proposing things more extreme than Reform (or Enoch Powell, or the BNP), and won’t stand up for the families such proposals threaten.
October 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
“You need to vote for us to stop Reform” is hardly going to work as a campaign slogan when you won’t even criticize a Tory MP proposing things more extreme than Reform (or Enoch Powell, or the BNP), and won’t stand up for the families such proposals threaten.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
If Labour cannot denounce mass deportation of permanent residents, Idi Amin style, what is the point of them?
October 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
If Labour cannot denounce mass deportation of permanent residents, Idi Amin style, what is the point of them?
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Ah! Good morning, reality. And welcome. We’ve been expecting you…
October 20, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Ah! Good morning, reality. And welcome. We’ve been expecting you…
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
The key question for broadcast interviews is
Has any government done anything like this since Idi Amin? [No]
Has any democratic government ever done this? [No]
bsky.app/profile/sund...
Has any government done anything like this since Idi Amin? [No]
Has any democratic government ever done this? [No]
bsky.app/profile/sund...
In the whole half century period since the dictator Idi Amin's expelled migrants in 1972, can anybody identify any *democratic* government at all that has stripped past grants of permanent residence from a large number of legal migrants & removed/expelled them?
The thing about the Overton window is that it just shifts by default if you let people propose insane policies like removing people with indefinite leave to remain without robust challenge. It doesn't just go away, it slowly leaks into the mainstream water supply unless you properly hose it down.
October 20, 2025 at 8:38 PM
The key question for broadcast interviews is
Has any government done anything like this since Idi Amin? [No]
Has any democratic government ever done this? [No]
bsky.app/profile/sund...
Has any government done anything like this since Idi Amin? [No]
Has any democratic government ever done this? [No]
bsky.app/profile/sund...
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
There is generally a lack of understanding among the UK media and the UK political class as to just how novel [extreme] these policy proposals are in any major democracy (when extend beyond the terms of settlement for legal migrants onto the threat to strip permanent residents of permanent status)
October 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM
There is generally a lack of understanding among the UK media and the UK political class as to just how novel [extreme] these policy proposals are in any major democracy (when extend beyond the terms of settlement for legal migrants onto the threat to strip permanent residents of permanent status)
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
The speed with which fifty years plus of building and enforcing anti-prejudice norms is unravelling at the moment among politics elites is shocking to me. But it is not inevitable: public don’t back this stuff. Because it is wrong. Oppose it. Every time. Whoever says it, wherever they say it.
inevitable.th
October 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The speed with which fifty years plus of building and enforcing anti-prejudice norms is unravelling at the moment among politics elites is shocking to me. But it is not inevitable: public don’t back this stuff. Because it is wrong. Oppose it. Every time. Whoever says it, wherever they say it.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
The politics of the far right does not magically become acceptable when delivered by a young Home counties woman with the right accent and friends.
October 19, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The politics of the far right does not magically become acceptable when delivered by a young Home counties woman with the right accent and friends.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Apropos of nothing, I really do think UK journalists and politicians need some reminding that mass deportation of LEGAL immigrants, particularly those with permanent status, is far more extreme than even Trump's America and would basically place Britain completely on its own among democracies.
October 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Apropos of nothing, I really do think UK journalists and politicians need some reminding that mass deportation of LEGAL immigrants, particularly those with permanent status, is far more extreme than even Trump's America and would basically place Britain completely on its own among democracies.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
A better answer: replace stamp duty with a smarter tax, that's fairer, doesn't discourage people from moving, and can't be avoided.
I'll be writing more about that at the weekend.
I'll be writing more about that at the weekend.
October 9, 2025 at 7:44 PM
A better answer: replace stamp duty with a smarter tax, that's fairer, doesn't discourage people from moving, and can't be avoided.
I'll be writing more about that at the weekend.
I'll be writing more about that at the weekend.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
October 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
If you don’t like being called a racist, maybe don’t make a career of saying things that appeal to racists, don’t create a political party that keeps attracting racist candidates, don’t fawn over racist world leaders, and don’t make a convicted racist the guest of honour at your party conference.
September 30, 2025 at 10:24 PM
If you don’t like being called a racist, maybe don’t make a career of saying things that appeal to racists, don’t create a political party that keeps attracting racist candidates, don’t fawn over racist world leaders, and don’t make a convicted racist the guest of honour at your party conference.
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Starmer's speech at Labour conference hit the right notes, it definitely upset Farage, but it takes more than words. Labour needs a serious change of direction to combat Reform. So long as he allows Labour's policy agenda to be dictated by Farage he emboldens Reform.👇
www.lbc.co.uk/article/keir...
www.lbc.co.uk/article/keir...
Keir Starmer sees himself in a battle against Reform. His speeches just amplify Farage's message | LBC
The Prime Minister frames this moment as a crossroads for the country, yet it feels more like one for his government and for Labour itself.
www.lbc.co.uk
September 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Starmer's speech at Labour conference hit the right notes, it definitely upset Farage, but it takes more than words. Labour needs a serious change of direction to combat Reform. So long as he allows Labour's policy agenda to be dictated by Farage he emboldens Reform.👇
www.lbc.co.uk/article/keir...
www.lbc.co.uk/article/keir...
Such an important corrective to the anti-welfare, anti-disability benefit rhetoric
I'm getting really really fed up at constant reassertion that welfare spending is "out of control" when it is the same as the average for the past few decades.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
September 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Such an important corrective to the anti-welfare, anti-disability benefit rhetoric
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Krishnan Guru Murthy, "Isn't it a bit insulting to say to an Indian doctor who is working 60-70 hours a week that in order to get settled status he's got to volunteer?"
Rachel Reeves, "We want people to contribute if they come to our country"
Labour have gone utterly bonkers
Rachel Reeves, "We want people to contribute if they come to our country"
Labour have gone utterly bonkers
September 29, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Krishnan Guru Murthy, "Isn't it a bit insulting to say to an Indian doctor who is working 60-70 hours a week that in order to get settled status he's got to volunteer?"
Rachel Reeves, "We want people to contribute if they come to our country"
Labour have gone utterly bonkers
Rachel Reeves, "We want people to contribute if they come to our country"
Labour have gone utterly bonkers
Reposted by Diamond Ashiagbor
Introducing slightly less cruel/damaging version of Farage's plans would not "outmanoeuvre Reform";would be an economic/ political own goal
Far better to attack Reform/Tories for Powellite ethnonationalism & say migrants who come here, contribute & *choose* to stay are welcome -and become British.
Far better to attack Reform/Tories for Powellite ethnonationalism & say migrants who come here, contribute & *choose* to stay are welcome -and become British.
The current Home Secretary who identifies as 'Blue Labour' was put in place precisely to outmanoeuvre Reform to the right on immigration so we can be fairly certain more costly and lengthy/conditional routes to citizenship will be announced in due course.
This excellent piece by @liamthorp.bsky.social focuses on Farage.
But as it correctly says, the much more immediate threat is that *Labour* will move the goalposts.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
But as it correctly says, the much more immediate threat is that *Labour* will move the goalposts.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
September 25, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Introducing slightly less cruel/damaging version of Farage's plans would not "outmanoeuvre Reform";would be an economic/ political own goal
Far better to attack Reform/Tories for Powellite ethnonationalism & say migrants who come here, contribute & *choose* to stay are welcome -and become British.
Far better to attack Reform/Tories for Powellite ethnonationalism & say migrants who come here, contribute & *choose* to stay are welcome -and become British.