Dr Stefan Lawrence
@drstefanlawrence.bsky.social
Social justice, sport & politics | Media, marketing & comms | Critical Economic Sociology | All views my own
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Voting Reform? I get it. But You Deserve Better.
In a terraced house on a cobbled street on the outskirts of Sheffield, I want to tell you about the story of a woman – let’s call her Sandra – who I met on a tram and who is plann…
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com
I wrote a reflection after meeting Sandra - a woman from Sheffield - on a tram, about why she's voting Reform, Nigel Farage and why (we) the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
Infantino is the integral accident of Blatterism: not the clean-up job, but the logical end-point that makes the whole claustropolitan edifice visible. The system didn’t break — it fulfilled itself.
When a low-energy, slurring President Donald Trump threatens to move 2026 World Cup matches out of Seattle because of its "liberal-slash-communist mayor," FIFA President Gianni Infantino hems & haws, refusing call out his ridiculousness. Infantino has become Trump's sportswashing accomplice #1.
November 18, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Infantino is the integral accident of Blatterism: not the clean-up job, but the logical end-point that makes the whole claustropolitan edifice visible. The system didn’t break — it fulfilled itself.
No disrespect to Celtic but Tierney has still got so many more years in a top European league. Great strike.
November 18, 2025 at 9:43 PM
No disrespect to Celtic but Tierney has still got so many more years in a top European league. Great strike.
Game’s gone if that’s a second yellow
November 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Game’s gone if that’s a second yellow
Why isn’t Rebecca Long-Bailey pushing back on the claim asylum seekers are living in “four-star luxury”? Hotels used for contingency accommodation offer the bare minimum, and people receive around £9 a week for essentials. They aren’t eating a full English every morning! #PoliticsLive
November 17, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Why isn’t Rebecca Long-Bailey pushing back on the claim asylum seekers are living in “four-star luxury”? Hotels used for contingency accommodation offer the bare minimum, and people receive around £9 a week for essentials. They aren’t eating a full English every morning! #PoliticsLive
Reposted by Dr Stefan Lawrence
I wrote a reflection after meeting Sandra - a woman from Sheffield - on a tram, about why she's voting Reform, Nigel Farage and why (we) the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
Voting Reform? I get it. But You Deserve Better.
In a terraced house on a cobbled street on the outskirts of Sheffield, I want to tell you about the story of a woman – let’s call her Sandra – who I met on a tram and who is plann…
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com
September 22, 2025 at 7:21 PM
I wrote a reflection after meeting Sandra - a woman from Sheffield - on a tram, about why she's voting Reform, Nigel Farage and why (we) the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
I wrote a reflection after meeting Sandra —
a woman from Sheffield - I met on a tram, about why she's voting Reform and why the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
a woman from Sheffield - I met on a tram, about why she's voting Reform and why the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
Voting Reform? I get it. But You Deserve Better.
In a terraced house on a cobbled street on the outskirts of Sheffield, I want to tell you about the story of a woman – let’s call her Sandra – who I met on a tram and who is plann…
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com
September 21, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I wrote a reflection after meeting Sandra —
a woman from Sheffield - I met on a tram, about why she's voting Reform and why the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
a woman from Sheffield - I met on a tram, about why she's voting Reform and why the left has failed her.
🔗 stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/v...
“… a minority with entrenched beliefs is surfing wider social discontent and importing older styles of football fandom to make itself louder.”
Some of my reflections on the weekend:
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/17/f...
Some of my reflections on the weekend:
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/17/f...
From the terraces to Nelson’s Column: How a minority are reviving the very worse of football in the 1980s
On 13 September, central London felt uncomfortably familiar to anyone who remembers the worst of English football’s 1980s fan culture: serried ranks of men on a boozy day out; Union flags aloft; ch…
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
“… a minority with entrenched beliefs is surfing wider social discontent and importing older styles of football fandom to make itself louder.”
Some of my reflections on the weekend:
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/17/f...
Some of my reflections on the weekend:
stefanlawrence.wordpress.com/2025/09/17/f...
The British right once championed law, order, and civility—but now cheers for criminal damage, vigilante violence, and racist misinformation. Twitter, supercharged by Elon Musk, is fuelling this shift—amplifying hate, glorifying weaponised children, and spreading far-right narratives at scale.
Kemi Badenoch has tried to outdo Nigel Farage's anti-immigration rhetoric by vowing to deport women and children
August 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
The British right once championed law, order, and civility—but now cheers for criminal damage, vigilante violence, and racist misinformation. Twitter, supercharged by Elon Musk, is fuelling this shift—amplifying hate, glorifying weaponised children, and spreading far-right narratives at scale.
England has rarely needed to wave flags — its power was historically inferred. The current flood of St George’s Crosses signals less national pride than cultural insecurity: a performative attempt to reassert symbolic ownership and redraw boundaries of belonging.
August 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM
England has rarely needed to wave flags — its power was historically inferred. The current flood of St George’s Crosses signals less national pride than cultural insecurity: a performative attempt to reassert symbolic ownership and redraw boundaries of belonging.
Research shows owners consistently recruit in their own likeness — homophily is the norm. The difference is when white owners appoint white managers, it passes without comment.
Ashvir Singh Johal takes charge at Morecambe and becomes first British Sikh to manage in England's top five leagues
Ashvir Singh Johal takes charge at Morecambe and becomes first British Sikh to manage in England's top five leagues
Ashvir Singh Johal has become the first British Sikh to take charge of a men's team in the top five leagues of English football.
news.sky.com
August 19, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Research shows owners consistently recruit in their own likeness — homophily is the norm. The difference is when white owners appoint white managers, it passes without comment.
Reposted by Dr Stefan Lawrence
The many issues with the current Labour government laid out clearly by @graceblakeley.substack.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The many issues with the current Labour government laid out clearly by @graceblakeley.substack.com
Reposted by Dr Stefan Lawrence
That Everton has a policy to prohibit the wearing of Palestine football jerseys—a nation that participates in FIFA events under its own flag—is the most blatant example of discrimination possible, not to mention complicity in genocide.
August 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM
That Everton has a policy to prohibit the wearing of Palestine football jerseys—a nation that participates in FIFA events under its own flag—is the most blatant example of discrimination possible, not to mention complicity in genocide.
“people are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites”
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2025 at 8:21 AM
“people are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites”
It's really not that deep. The reason for the rebellion in the Party is quite simply because Starmer is pulling Labour too far to the right. MPs will have been getting pelters from their constituents. The progressives have had enough. Govern as Labour or this is sure to be a one term government.
After the welfare vote debacle, this much is clear: Starmer must change. Labour MPs will demand it | Rafael Behr
After the welfare vote debacle, this much is clear: Starmer must change. Labour MPs will demand it | Rafael Behr
The anti-Tory energy that won the PM a majority last year has gone. He needs to give his old supporters new reasons to keep him in office, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
July 1, 2025 at 10:01 PM
It's really not that deep. The reason for the rebellion in the Party is quite simply because Starmer is pulling Labour too far to the right. MPs will have been getting pelters from their constituents. The progressives have had enough. Govern as Labour or this is sure to be a one term government.
I don’t like the way PIP is framed as a “benefit”. It’s not a favour — it’s an Independence Payment, a recognition that society is not designed for disabled people.
To remove or drastically reform it is to deny a historical truth: that exclusion is built into the world we’ve made.
To remove or drastically reform it is to deny a historical truth: that exclusion is built into the world we’ve made.
“The bottom line is, you want fewer disabled people in receipt of PIP"
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social
#bbclaurak
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social
#bbclaurak
June 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I don’t like the way PIP is framed as a “benefit”. It’s not a favour — it’s an Independence Payment, a recognition that society is not designed for disabled people.
To remove or drastically reform it is to deny a historical truth: that exclusion is built into the world we’ve made.
To remove or drastically reform it is to deny a historical truth: that exclusion is built into the world we’ve made.
Vietnamese iced coffee hits different.
June 14, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Vietnamese iced coffee hits different.
Reposted by Dr Stefan Lawrence
More than half of top 100 mental health TikToks contain misinformation, study finds
More than half of top 100 mental health TikToks contain misinformation, study finds
Guardian investigation reveals promotion of dubious advice, questionable supplements and quick-fix healing methods
*
What is the most common mental health misinformation on TikTok?
More than half of all the top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation, a Guardian investigation has found.
People are increasingly turning to social media for mental health support, yet research has revealed that many influencers are peddling misinformation, including misused therapeutic language, “quick fix” solutions and false claims. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 31, 2025 at 6:13 PM
More than half of top 100 mental health TikToks contain misinformation, study finds
I hate football.
AFC Wimbledon revel in reaching League One after edging out Walsall in playoff final
AFC Wimbledon revel in reaching League One after edging out Walsall in playoff final
Myles Hippolyte’s goal in first-half stoppage time gave AFC Wimbledon a 1-0 win over Walsall in the League Two playoff final at Wembley
www.theguardian.com
May 26, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I hate football.
Honoured to join FA South Asians in Football Working Group as part of its new #EDI strategy. Looking forward to working with some fantastic colleagues in this space.
🔗 thefa.com/inclusion-and-anti-discrimination/south-asians-in-football/working-group
🔗 thefa.com/inclusion-and-anti-discrimination/south-asians-in-football/working-group
South Asians in Football Working Group
Read more
thefa.com
May 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Honoured to join FA South Asians in Football Working Group as part of its new #EDI strategy. Looking forward to working with some fantastic colleagues in this space.
🔗 thefa.com/inclusion-and-anti-discrimination/south-asians-in-football/working-group
🔗 thefa.com/inclusion-and-anti-discrimination/south-asians-in-football/working-group
£312bn is more than the GDP of 140 countries.
This isn’t the politics of envy. It’s the politics of sensible people who want millions off food banks and our public services repaired.
#TaxTheRich #SocialJustice
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-bill...
This isn’t the politics of envy. It’s the politics of sensible people who want millions off food banks and our public services repaired.
#TaxTheRich #SocialJustice
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-bill...
82 UK billionaires alone hold £312bn of wealth
Billionaires are moving to countries such as Switzerland, the UAE, Singapore and the US.
uk.finance.yahoo.com
May 20, 2025 at 8:39 AM
£312bn is more than the GDP of 140 countries.
This isn’t the politics of envy. It’s the politics of sensible people who want millions off food banks and our public services repaired.
#TaxTheRich #SocialJustice
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-bill...
This isn’t the politics of envy. It’s the politics of sensible people who want millions off food banks and our public services repaired.
#TaxTheRich #SocialJustice
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-bill...
Rupert Lowe denying bullying while bullying Emily Maitlis throughout the entire interview is pure theatre — and proof enough of the kind of man he is. I didn't think it was possible for some to be even worse than Farage. Vile.
www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...
www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...
The News Agents - Podcast Episode | Global Player
Rupert Lowe - in his own words: “Farage, bullying and grooming gangs”
www.globalplayer.com
May 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Rupert Lowe denying bullying while bullying Emily Maitlis throughout the entire interview is pure theatre — and proof enough of the kind of man he is. I didn't think it was possible for some to be even worse than Farage. Vile.
www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...
www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...
Listened to BBC Newscast after Starmer’s “island of strangers” comment. They trotted out Yvette Cooper who wasn't even able to clearly reject comparisons with Enoch Powell. This is the moment, we'll look back at, where Labour completely lost the left, the centre and any goodwill that was remaining.
May 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Listened to BBC Newscast after Starmer’s “island of strangers” comment. They trotted out Yvette Cooper who wasn't even able to clearly reject comparisons with Enoch Powell. This is the moment, we'll look back at, where Labour completely lost the left, the centre and any goodwill that was remaining.
Reposted by Dr Stefan Lawrence
Maybe FIFA should just move the entire @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social to Mexico & Canada?
Just galling on so many levels. US Vice President JD Vance Jokes About Deporting Tourists Attending the 2026 Men's World Cup www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-van...
JD Vance Jokes About Deporting Tourists Attending 2026 World Cup
The vice president warned people attending the five-week tournament next year not to overstay their welcome, or there would be consequences.
www.huffpost.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Maybe FIFA should just move the entire @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social to Mexico & Canada?