Ben Whitham
@drbenwhitham.bsky.social
Senior Policy and Research Officer at Refugee Action | Research Associate at SOAS | Assistant Instructor at Tiger Crane Kung Fu, London | Trade unionist, martial artist, antifascist. Views my own.
https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/ben-whitham
https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/ben-whitham
Reposted by Ben Whitham
„Since the Gaza ceasefire was announced, 100 days ago, on 8 October, Israel's military attacks continue. Over 440 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed. Over 2,500 residential buildings have been destroyed, leaving people forced into displacement. Severe restrictions on aid inflows persist.“
🚨Despite the first phase of a fragile ceasefire being in place, people in Gaza are still being deliberately deprived of water. We must be allowed to respond at scale. Read more: bit.ly/4pJkfks
January 18, 2026 at 11:55 AM
„Since the Gaza ceasefire was announced, 100 days ago, on 8 October, Israel's military attacks continue. Over 440 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed. Over 2,500 residential buildings have been destroyed, leaving people forced into displacement. Severe restrictions on aid inflows persist.“
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Mubashir and his family came to the United States as refugees from Ethiopia when he was a child, and they all became naturalized citizens in 2019.
Despite being a U.S. citizen, Mubashir was targeted by ICE, assaulted, and detained. Listen to his story:
Despite being a U.S. citizen, Mubashir was targeted by ICE, assaulted, and detained. Listen to his story:
January 17, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Mubashir and his family came to the United States as refugees from Ethiopia when he was a child, and they all became naturalized citizens in 2019.
Despite being a U.S. citizen, Mubashir was targeted by ICE, assaulted, and detained. Listen to his story:
Despite being a U.S. citizen, Mubashir was targeted by ICE, assaulted, and detained. Listen to his story:
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Last February, the Texas Observer investigation revealed the identity of James Rodden, an ICE attorney who operates an openly white supremacist account on X. This year, we proved he's back in court trying immigration cases:
ICE Prosecutor Who Runs Racist X Account Returns to Dallas Immigration Court
James Rodden, identified by the Observer last year as the operator of an account that routinely posted hateful statements, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.
www.texasobserver.org
January 16, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Last February, the Texas Observer investigation revealed the identity of James Rodden, an ICE attorney who operates an openly white supremacist account on X. This year, we proved he's back in court trying immigration cases:
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Murder. And not just the one who pulled the trigger.
Holy shit.
Renee Good was alive when the bystander physician asked to check her pulse. She was alive when ICE refused to let him help. She was alive when they told him “I don’t care.”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Renee Good was alive when the bystander physician asked to check her pulse. She was alive when ICE refused to let him help. She was alive when they told him “I don’t care.”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Live Updates: Newly Released Records Detail Chaos During Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Murder. And not just the one who pulled the trigger.
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres
Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres
Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
the starmer government's response to any far-right announcement: "yeah I get that it's contemptible, but hear me out - what if there's a position on this that's *beneath* contempt?"
Of everything, and there's a lot, Labour could say about Jenrick to condemn him, that he "presided over an open borders experiment" isn't just objectively bollocks, it is also hugely offensive to those people whose lives Jenrick ruined as Immigration Minister. 1/
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
January 15, 2026 at 5:45 PM
the starmer government's response to any far-right announcement: "yeah I get that it's contemptible, but hear me out - what if there's a position on this that's *beneath* contempt?"
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Of everything, and there's a lot, Labour could say about Jenrick to condemn him, that he "presided over an open borders experiment" isn't just objectively bollocks, it is also hugely offensive to those people whose lives Jenrick ruined as Immigration Minister. 1/
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
January 15, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Of everything, and there's a lot, Labour could say about Jenrick to condemn him, that he "presided over an open borders experiment" isn't just objectively bollocks, it is also hugely offensive to those people whose lives Jenrick ruined as Immigration Minister. 1/
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Pleased at least some of the media are saying this stuff out loud.
Sky's Rob Powell asks Nigel Farage that, given Robert Jenrick is the 7th person to have served in Boris Johnson's government to defect to Reform, how can his party be "a new, reforming force" when it is "bringing in so many people who caused the mess that you're trying to clean up"
January 15, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Pleased at least some of the media are saying this stuff out loud.
Of 2025's many pre-emptive UK state concessions to the insurgent far right, this police guidance on publishing the "nationality and / or ethnicity" of suspects is particularly egregious. It amounts to saying that when far-right social media accounts demand it, police must weaponise racial identity.
January 15, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Of 2025's many pre-emptive UK state concessions to the insurgent far right, this police guidance on publishing the "nationality and / or ethnicity" of suspects is particularly egregious. It amounts to saying that when far-right social media accounts demand it, police must weaponise racial identity.
Badenoch: "The public is tired of political psychodrama and so am I. This is why I am making a pre-emptive strike against a member of my own shadow cabinet who I believe has been "plotting in secret", so that he can't get the knife in first at a press conference this afternoon!". Tories gonna Tory.
January 15, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Badenoch: "The public is tired of political psychodrama and so am I. This is why I am making a pre-emptive strike against a member of my own shadow cabinet who I believe has been "plotting in secret", so that he can't get the knife in first at a press conference this afternoon!". Tories gonna Tory.
Reposted by Ben Whitham
This ought to be a huge national news story. But the quiet dismantling of a key sector barely registers outside HE. Maybe someone will care when the local economies that Unis sustain start to go bust too. Important story from @patrickjack.bsky.social & @timeshighered.bsky.social
Ninety UK universities to have posted accounts so far cut 13,300 jobs last year, spending £303 million on severance pay - sector-wide total clearly going to be well in excess of predicted 10,000. Great reporting by @patrickjack.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pay-spe...
Pay-off spend up by two-thirds as universities shed 13,000 jobs
Analysis of UK sector accounts shows number of job losses well above predictions, with experts warning cuts are not over yet
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:10 AM
This ought to be a huge national news story. But the quiet dismantling of a key sector barely registers outside HE. Maybe someone will care when the local economies that Unis sustain start to go bust too. Important story from @patrickjack.bsky.social & @timeshighered.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Whitham
The UK has declined a new Elbit Systems contract, leading Palestine Action prisoners to end the hunger strike that had three of them on the brink of death. The Tesco worker suspended for refusing to handle Israeli goods has been reinstated and will no longer have to handle them. We can and will win
January 15, 2026 at 7:43 AM
The UK has declined a new Elbit Systems contract, leading Palestine Action prisoners to end the hunger strike that had three of them on the brink of death. The Tesco worker suspended for refusing to handle Israeli goods has been reinstated and will no longer have to handle them. We can and will win
Some good news here. When not drowning our streets in flags, "Raise the Colours" have been in France, driving to the living sites of Calais and Dunkirk to scream racist abuse at and harass refugees, filming all the while to make monetisable social media content. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
France bans 10 British 'far-right activists' over anti-migrant activity
French officials said actions by members of the Raise the Colours group were likely to cause public disorder.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Some good news here. When not drowning our streets in flags, "Raise the Colours" have been in France, driving to the living sites of Calais and Dunkirk to scream racist abuse at and harass refugees, filming all the while to make monetisable social media content. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ben Whitham
"Mahmood says she will legislate to ensure home secretary regains power to sack chief constables"
With Reform coming, it's nice Labour are making it easier for the executive to control the police.
With Reform coming, it's nice Labour are making it easier for the executive to control the police.
January 14, 2026 at 3:17 PM
"Mahmood says she will legislate to ensure home secretary regains power to sack chief constables"
With Reform coming, it's nice Labour are making it easier for the executive to control the police.
With Reform coming, it's nice Labour are making it easier for the executive to control the police.
Reposted by Ben Whitham
“This is authoritarianism
101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death”
101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death”
Why does this article even exist given its own third and fourth paragraphs
January 14, 2026 at 11:58 AM
“This is authoritarianism
101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death”
101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death”
Reposted by Ben Whitham
A protester is currently lying in a hospital bed with a piece of shrapnel in his neck 7mm from his carotid artery.
While he lay bleeding on the pavement, blinded in his left eye, gasping for air, agents did not call a medic. They dragged him and sneered: "You're going to lose your eye."
While he lay bleeding on the pavement, blinded in his left eye, gasping for air, agents did not call a medic. They dragged him and sneered: "You're going to lose your eye."
January 14, 2026 at 4:43 AM
A protester is currently lying in a hospital bed with a piece of shrapnel in his neck 7mm from his carotid artery.
While he lay bleeding on the pavement, blinded in his left eye, gasping for air, agents did not call a medic. They dragged him and sneered: "You're going to lose your eye."
While he lay bleeding on the pavement, blinded in his left eye, gasping for air, agents did not call a medic. They dragged him and sneered: "You're going to lose your eye."
"Starmer has no -ism, no natural constituency, no base beyond a couple of dozen weird technocracy stans on Bluesky" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
When crowds direct offensive chants at Keir Starmer, who’s to blame? I’m afraid he is | Jonathan Liew
The PM’s technocrat tendencies and lack of obvious backbone make him a target for amorphous rage, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:02 AM
"Starmer has no -ism, no natural constituency, no base beyond a couple of dozen weird technocracy stans on Bluesky" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Students at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis are walking out to protest ICE days after a clash between U.S. Border Patrol agents and protesters at the school.
📸: Jerry Holt
📸: Jerry Holt
January 12, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Students at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis are walking out to protest ICE days after a clash between U.S. Border Patrol agents and protesters at the school.
📸: Jerry Holt
📸: Jerry Holt
Reposted by Ben Whitham
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
January 12, 2026 at 1:42 AM
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Amazingly, Zahawi only got round to deleting the below after the press conference announcing his defection to Reform.
January 12, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Amazingly, Zahawi only got round to deleting the below after the press conference announcing his defection to Reform.
imagining this privately-educated multimillionaire struggling to make his lips form the words "down the pub"
January 12, 2026 at 12:08 PM
imagining this privately-educated multimillionaire struggling to make his lips form the words "down the pub"
Reposted by Ben Whitham
Nadim Zahawi arrived in the UK from Iraq as a child refugee. His family claimed asylum once they were here. Today he has joined Reform who will stop all in country asylum applications. Under his new party, his own family fleeing persecution would be immediately deported.
January 12, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Nadim Zahawi arrived in the UK from Iraq as a child refugee. His family claimed asylum once they were here. Today he has joined Reform who will stop all in country asylum applications. Under his new party, his own family fleeing persecution would be immediately deported.
ICYMI on Friday the UNHCR responded to the asylum policy proposals the UK government published late last year. They suggest the core plan to make refugee status temporary will likely "create prolonged uncertainty and despair, undermining integration and social cohesion" www.unhcr.org/uk/publicati...
Observations on 'Restoring Order and Control' Asylum Policy Statement | UNHCR UK
Search for the country site.
www.unhcr.org
January 12, 2026 at 10:49 AM
ICYMI on Friday the UNHCR responded to the asylum policy proposals the UK government published late last year. They suggest the core plan to make refugee status temporary will likely "create prolonged uncertainty and despair, undermining integration and social cohesion" www.unhcr.org/uk/publicati...
Reposted by Ben Whitham
This is an important and sobering read about a 1943 American pamphlet warning citizens what fascism in America would look like. Every bit of it is happening now
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
January 9, 2026
Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S.
open.substack.com
January 10, 2026 at 8:37 AM
This is an important and sobering read about a 1943 American pamphlet warning citizens what fascism in America would look like. Every bit of it is happening now
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...