Elizabeth Elliott
@elizabethelliott.bsky.social
Medieval literature, history of emotion and medievalism. UCU rep. She/her
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
This is incredibly informative. If you don’t know what Makaton is: it’s a “system” that steals, breaks, copyrights, and sells signs from various sign languages. But it’s also a lot worse than that.
I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not fight with people on Threads about Makaton. I will not thebaffler.com/outbursts/si...
Signed Away | Sara Nović
The hearing world continues to pillage and caricature the deaf community—most recently with the proprietary, sign-based system Makaton.
thebaffler.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:24 AM
This is incredibly informative. If you don’t know what Makaton is: it’s a “system” that steals, breaks, copyrights, and sells signs from various sign languages. But it’s also a lot worse than that.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
In report after report to the British Academy (and therefore to Shah) I noted that the BL debacle crippled the last phase of my research grant (after the pandemic closures collapsed the 1st). I'm quite pleased to see him throw the heft of the BA behind this op ed, with specific reference to its mss.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
In report after report to the British Academy (and therefore to Shah) I noted that the BL debacle crippled the last phase of my research grant (after the pandemic closures collapsed the 1st). I'm quite pleased to see him throw the heft of the BA behind this op ed, with specific reference to its mss.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Don't cross the picket line!
We are on strike because of UoE's budget cuts that have and will affect students and staff.
We are striking for a better university, join us!
#StopTheCuts
We are on strike because of UoE's budget cuts that have and will affect students and staff.
We are striking for a better university, join us!
#StopTheCuts
November 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Don't cross the picket line!
We are on strike because of UoE's budget cuts that have and will affect students and staff.
We are striking for a better university, join us!
#StopTheCuts
We are on strike because of UoE's budget cuts that have and will affect students and staff.
We are striking for a better university, join us!
#StopTheCuts
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Pleased to see @ucu.org.uk continue to oppose the horrendous anti-immigration rhetoric and policy of the UK government.
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
UCU statement on Prime Minister's anti-immigration turn
UCU statement following Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer's anti-immigration turn.
www.ucu.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Pleased to see @ucu.org.uk continue to oppose the horrendous anti-immigration rhetoric and policy of the UK government.
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Twenty-two years ago today Section 28 was repealed.
But we're seeing history repeat itself as some in the media and in politics spread bigotry and misinformation about trans people.
1/8🧵
But we're seeing history repeat itself as some in the media and in politics spread bigotry and misinformation about trans people.
1/8🧵
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Twenty-two years ago today Section 28 was repealed.
But we're seeing history repeat itself as some in the media and in politics spread bigotry and misinformation about trans people.
1/8🧵
But we're seeing history repeat itself as some in the media and in politics spread bigotry and misinformation about trans people.
1/8🧵
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
'The UK government is set to introduce a new visa route for refugees granted asylum to study at local universities as it seeks to overhaul the current immigration system.'
Rare government recognition of value of universities for integration. 1/3
Rare government recognition of value of universities for integration. 1/3
New study route for successful asylum claimants in UK
Labour to encourage people granted asylum to better assimilate and support themselves by introducing pathway to enrol in university
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:58 AM
'The UK government is set to introduce a new visa route for refugees granted asylum to study at local universities as it seeks to overhaul the current immigration system.'
Rare government recognition of value of universities for integration. 1/3
Rare government recognition of value of universities for integration. 1/3
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Our caseworkers have been working extremely hard supporting members through the endless restructures and individual protected concersations.
We need a mandate to put and end to this barrage and not let colleagues be picked off one by one. ##UKHE #UCU
We need a mandate to put and end to this barrage and not let colleagues be picked off one by one. ##UKHE #UCU
We need a mandate, because managers and their consultants have pivoted the purpose of our institutions from research & education to prioritising financial gain over everything.
Enough.
Staff and students need to be central in the decision-making processes and priorities again.
#SaveHE #WeAreTheUni
Enough.
Staff and students need to be central in the decision-making processes and priorities again.
#SaveHE #WeAreTheUni
November 18, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
This explains why British Library staff are on strike
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This explains why British Library staff are on strike
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
I mean quite apart from anything else, given the revolt of your backbenchers that seems to be happening right now… perhaps you should care, actually
Green MP Carla Denyer accuses Shabana Mahmood of trying to "out Reform Reform" and says "toxic racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants" are to blame for "tearing our country apart" not migrants.
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
November 17, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I mean quite apart from anything else, given the revolt of your backbenchers that seems to be happening right now… perhaps you should care, actually
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
It's hard to find words to capture quite how revolting, steeped in bigotry, irresponsible, morally unmoored, Labour has become. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Anglican bishop shaken ‘to the core’ by home secretary’s asylum seeker comments
Bishop of Edmonton says people coming to UK are being ‘scapegoated’ for years of policy failures
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
It's hard to find words to capture quite how revolting, steeped in bigotry, irresponsible, morally unmoored, Labour has become. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Keir Starmer trying to blame 34% of the electorate for his disgusting fascism, because he likes to forget that he was elected on only 34% of the vote.
And even that 34% did not vote for this.
Keir Starmer and Labour opposed to owning their own policies.
And even that 34% did not vote for this.
Keir Starmer and Labour opposed to owning their own policies.
Asked if Keir Starmer believes British people want to "see refugee children pulled out of school and deported after 10 years in this country”, his spokesman says that “what the British public wants and what this government was elected on a mandate to deliver was to secure our borders"
November 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Keir Starmer trying to blame 34% of the electorate for his disgusting fascism, because he likes to forget that he was elected on only 34% of the vote.
And even that 34% did not vote for this.
Keir Starmer and Labour opposed to owning their own policies.
And even that 34% did not vote for this.
Keir Starmer and Labour opposed to owning their own policies.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
"If fascism is popular we will implement it" is such a blunt and perfect summary of liberalism delivered with absolute clarity
Asked if Keir Starmer believes British people want to "see refugee children pulled out of school and deported after 10 years in this country”, his spokesman says that “what the British public wants and what this government was elected on a mandate to deliver was to secure our borders"
November 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
"If fascism is popular we will implement it" is such a blunt and perfect summary of liberalism delivered with absolute clarity
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
That is absolutely not what I voted for. I voted for them to be less shit than the Tories not significantly worse
Asked if Keir Starmer believes British people want to "see refugee children pulled out of school and deported after 10 years in this country”, his spokesman says that “what the British public wants and what this government was elected on a mandate to deliver was to secure our borders"
November 17, 2025 at 12:34 PM
That is absolutely not what I voted for. I voted for them to be less shit than the Tories not significantly worse
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
I’m reading ‘Maus: A Survivor’s Tale’, by Art Spiegelman. In it, a man interviews his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew during WWII. I’ve just come to the part where the father is taken to Auschwitz & his expensive gold watch is confiscated. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social you should read it.
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 12:59 PM
I’m reading ‘Maus: A Survivor’s Tale’, by Art Spiegelman. In it, a man interviews his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew during WWII. I’ve just come to the part where the father is taken to Auschwitz & his expensive gold watch is confiscated. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social you should read it.
Solidarity to Edinburgh staff on strike this week! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💜🩷
Calling all staff and students at UoE, and all those who care about its future: join us on the picket lines!
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Industrial Action FAQ — UCU Edinburgh
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Solidarity to Edinburgh staff on strike this week! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💜🩷
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
I'm on strike for the next three days in protest at my employer's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of their cost-cutting vision for a radically diminished university. My school makes a healthy profit, most of which goes back into central coffers, yet still we're told to save more.
November 17, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I'm on strike for the next three days in protest at my employer's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of their cost-cutting vision for a radically diminished university. My school makes a healthy profit, most of which goes back into central coffers, yet still we're told to save more.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
We absolutely cannot accept this! We need to stand together and support in every way we can!
Solidarity.
Solidarity.
Heartbroken to be on strike (again) - never an easy decision 👍 We cannot accept a university in which staff jobs, student education, and research progress are under threat by major (and financially unnecessary) change management processes. @sheffielducu.bsky.social #Sheffield #DigitalPicket
November 17, 2025 at 11:20 AM
We absolutely cannot accept this! We need to stand together and support in every way we can!
Solidarity.
Solidarity.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
🌍 42.5m refugees
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
![Dear [my MP’s name],
As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.
That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest.
I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights.
Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming.
A manufactured crisis
As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million.
The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bru4h6s37w4hfmwhetu7veye/bafkreidmewc5timbx7nh57qyq7lm7gmhvclzidmloqhwgckpnegnddoicq@jpeg)
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
The organ donation ‘opt-out’ has been a fatal failure | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
Not to mention the effects of 2 local universities making staff redundant, closing taught programmes and reducing their research and civic engagement capacities (in response to government policies).
‘I think the city is falling apart’: Leicester braces for a make-or-break budget
‘I think the city is falling apart’: Leicester braces for a make-or-break budget
In the local authority where people have the least spare cash there are hopes the chancellor will instil change
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Not to mention the effects of 2 local universities making staff redundant, closing taught programmes and reducing their research and civic engagement capacities (in response to government policies).
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
it is wild that Labour is doing exactly what the reactionary centrists recommend and is absolutely destroying its base of support as a result, and yet reactionary centrists in the US are just utterly silent about the complete failure of their program.
November 16, 2025 at 12:38 PM
it is wild that Labour is doing exactly what the reactionary centrists recommend and is absolutely destroying its base of support as a result, and yet reactionary centrists in the US are just utterly silent about the complete failure of their program.
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
“One of the things that really gives me joy is the fact that there are so many amazing, brilliant, creative disabled people out there. But part of my rage — and it’s a very real rage — is that most people don’t really know about them.”
Obit:
Obit:
Alice Wong, Writer and Relentless Advocate for Disability Rights, Dies at 51
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:09 PM
“One of the things that really gives me joy is the fact that there are so many amazing, brilliant, creative disabled people out there. But part of my rage — and it’s a very real rage — is that most people don’t really know about them.”
Obit:
Obit:
Reposted by Elizabeth Elliott
No progressive can vote Labour anymore. Think how many people with settled status, naturalisation, refugee parents and grandparents must feel at this. It’s more than just today’s and tomorrow’s refugees. This is two fingers at millions of British citizens. It creates even more polarisation. Horrible
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
No progressive can vote Labour anymore. Think how many people with settled status, naturalisation, refugee parents and grandparents must feel at this. It’s more than just today’s and tomorrow’s refugees. This is two fingers at millions of British citizens. It creates even more polarisation. Horrible