Ross Gibson
@rossgibson.bsky.social
Social work and trade union stuff.
Personal account which certainly does not reflect the views of my employer.
Personal account which certainly does not reflect the views of my employer.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
We are also hosting a rally outside of the Holyrood building in Edinburgh tomorrow from 12:30-1:30pm.
If you’re in Edinburgh, come and join us, in better weather ☀️
The rally will focus on our and other campus unions fight against job cuts in the Scottish HE sector.
If you’re in Edinburgh, come and join us, in better weather ☀️
The rally will focus on our and other campus unions fight against job cuts in the Scottish HE sector.
January 27, 2026 at 4:34 PM
We are also hosting a rally outside of the Holyrood building in Edinburgh tomorrow from 12:30-1:30pm.
If you’re in Edinburgh, come and join us, in better weather ☀️
The rally will focus on our and other campus unions fight against job cuts in the Scottish HE sector.
If you’re in Edinburgh, come and join us, in better weather ☀️
The rally will focus on our and other campus unions fight against job cuts in the Scottish HE sector.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
400 jobs at risk. A campus set to close.
This film explains what’s happening at the University of Essex and why staff, students and the local community are organising to stop it.
📍 Southend rally | 5 February
This film explains what’s happening at the University of Essex and why staff, students and the local community are organising to stop it.
📍 Southend rally | 5 February
January 26, 2026 at 3:13 PM
400 jobs at risk. A campus set to close.
This film explains what’s happening at the University of Essex and why staff, students and the local community are organising to stop it.
📍 Southend rally | 5 February
This film explains what’s happening at the University of Essex and why staff, students and the local community are organising to stop it.
📍 Southend rally | 5 February
Reposted by Ross Gibson
📢 It is sometimes really hard to grasp the sheer gargantuan scale of human stupidity. Endless wars, doing nothing much about climate change, wasting billions on space exploration, and now the mindless adoption of AI. We really need to stop being so pigshit thick. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI is hitting UK harder than other big economies, study finds
Britain is losing more jobs than it creates owing to artificial intelligence, Morgan Stanley research suggests
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:26 PM
📢 It is sometimes really hard to grasp the sheer gargantuan scale of human stupidity. Endless wars, doing nothing much about climate change, wasting billions on space exploration, and now the mindless adoption of AI. We really need to stop being so pigshit thick. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Univeristy management claim that there is no money to keep people in jobs, yet look at their expenses…
Our university leadership published their expenses for most of 2025. Reviewing these is a traumatic experience. We note the following:
Total ULB expenses since May 2022 are at £347,923.38
Expenses since August 2024 are at £118,985.24 (during which time they aggressively pursued redundancy...
Total ULB expenses since May 2022 are at £347,923.38
Expenses since August 2024 are at £118,985.24 (during which time they aggressively pursued redundancy...
January 22, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Univeristy management claim that there is no money to keep people in jobs, yet look at their expenses…
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Private Equity vultures feeding off the most vulnerable children - at enormous public expense.
Stop the vile profiteers! Commissioner demands end to getting rich off care kids.
Strong stuff, in the Express of all places.
www.express.co.uk/news/politic...
Strong stuff, in the Express of all places.
www.express.co.uk/news/politic...
Stop the profiteers - Commissioner demands end to getting rich off care kids
More than £350million has been spent on putting vulnerable children in 'illegal' care homes, often far from their families
www.express.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Private Equity vultures feeding off the most vulnerable children - at enormous public expense.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
UK Universities cut 13,300 jobs, paid £300m+ in redundancy.
Economic contribution of the HE sector, £265bn.
Systematically destroyed by govts - foreign students not welcome, cut real-term grants, fees, students burdened with debts, low staff pay/morale.
Govt want skilled labour.
archive.ph/favYt
Economic contribution of the HE sector, £265bn.
Systematically destroyed by govts - foreign students not welcome, cut real-term grants, fees, students burdened with debts, low staff pay/morale.
Govt want skilled labour.
archive.ph/favYt
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 17, 2026 at 11:48 AM
UK Universities cut 13,300 jobs, paid £300m+ in redundancy.
Economic contribution of the HE sector, £265bn.
Systematically destroyed by govts - foreign students not welcome, cut real-term grants, fees, students burdened with debts, low staff pay/morale.
Govt want skilled labour.
archive.ph/favYt
Economic contribution of the HE sector, £265bn.
Systematically destroyed by govts - foreign students not welcome, cut real-term grants, fees, students burdened with debts, low staff pay/morale.
Govt want skilled labour.
archive.ph/favYt
Reposted by Ross Gibson
No moral Compass: Private equity earns millions in profits as crisis engulfs children’s social care.
My new column via Substack
open.substack.com/pub/martinba...
My new column via Substack
open.substack.com/pub/martinba...
No moral Compass: How private equity profits as crisis engulfs children’s social care
Compass Community is a major provider of children’s homes and foster care to local authorities.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
No moral Compass: Private equity earns millions in profits as crisis engulfs children’s social care.
My new column via Substack
open.substack.com/pub/martinba...
My new column via Substack
open.substack.com/pub/martinba...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Who is on Trump's 'Board of Peace' for Gaza?
Not one Palestinian. Not one woman.
Tell us again how these governments stand for self-determination, equality, liberty, peace, justice, and democracy?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Not one Palestinian. Not one woman.
Tell us again how these governments stand for self-determination, equality, liberty, peace, justice, and democracy?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Who is on Trump's 'Board of Peace' for Gaza?
The White House has released the names of those who will oversee the next phase of the US president's peace plan for Gaza.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Who is on Trump's 'Board of Peace' for Gaza?
Not one Palestinian. Not one woman.
Tell us again how these governments stand for self-determination, equality, liberty, peace, justice, and democracy?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Not one Palestinian. Not one woman.
Tell us again how these governments stand for self-determination, equality, liberty, peace, justice, and democracy?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
When Trump uses ancient law against people in Minnesota, we remember a great woman's quote: “What presents itself to us as bourgeois legality is nothing but the violence of the ruling class, a violence raised to an obligatory norm from the outset.”
― Rosa Luxemburg (murdered Berlin 15 January 1919)
― Rosa Luxemburg (murdered Berlin 15 January 1919)
January 15, 2026 at 9:52 PM
When Trump uses ancient law against people in Minnesota, we remember a great woman's quote: “What presents itself to us as bourgeois legality is nothing but the violence of the ruling class, a violence raised to an obligatory norm from the outset.”
― Rosa Luxemburg (murdered Berlin 15 January 1919)
― Rosa Luxemburg (murdered Berlin 15 January 1919)
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Ballots across Scotland from Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde, Stirling & Aberdeen are going in the post
Vote now Save jobs
Post your ballot (with or without a dog) (don't post the dog they're not covered by the prepaid stamp) @ucuscotland.bsky.social
#UCU #Scholar #GTVO #Heriot-Watt #dogsPostingBallots 🐕
Vote now Save jobs
Post your ballot (with or without a dog) (don't post the dog they're not covered by the prepaid stamp) @ucuscotland.bsky.social
#UCU #Scholar #GTVO #Heriot-Watt #dogsPostingBallots 🐕
January 13, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Ballots across Scotland from Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde, Stirling & Aberdeen are going in the post
Vote now Save jobs
Post your ballot (with or without a dog) (don't post the dog they're not covered by the prepaid stamp) @ucuscotland.bsky.social
#UCU #Scholar #GTVO #Heriot-Watt #dogsPostingBallots 🐕
Vote now Save jobs
Post your ballot (with or without a dog) (don't post the dog they're not covered by the prepaid stamp) @ucuscotland.bsky.social
#UCU #Scholar #GTVO #Heriot-Watt #dogsPostingBallots 🐕
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Hundreds of vulnerable children are living in illegal children’s homes, including caravans, holiday camps or AirBnBs, some for as long as three years. Damning new report by
@childrenscomm.bsky.social
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news-and-blo...
@childrenscomm.bsky.social
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news-and-blo...
Press Notice: Rise in ‘million-pound placements’ as vulnerable children with additional needs are housed illegally in caravans, holiday camps and AirBnBs | Children's Commissioner for England
Second report into illegal children’s homes by Children’s Commissioner shows one year on, vulnerable children are still being housed in caravans,
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk
January 11, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Hundreds of vulnerable children are living in illegal children’s homes, including caravans, holiday camps or AirBnBs, some for as long as three years. Damning new report by
@childrenscomm.bsky.social
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news-and-blo...
@childrenscomm.bsky.social
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news-and-blo...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Staff shortages put Dundee’s architecture course at risk, students organised and won.
Teaching has been reinstated in full.
Collective action works.
Teaching has been reinstated in full.
Collective action works.
Dundee architecture students win fight against course-threatening staff shortages
University of Dundee architecture students have successfully campaigned to address a shortage of teaching staff which threatened accreditation of courses
www.architectsjournal.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Staff shortages put Dundee’s architecture course at risk, students organised and won.
Teaching has been reinstated in full.
Collective action works.
Teaching has been reinstated in full.
Collective action works.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
🚨 Landlordism is one of the ugliest aspects of UK inequality. Living off rent (always set as high as possible) derived from the work of others is a fundamental unfairness. It's a symptom of a failed housing system - one where profit has been prioritised over need. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
Are UK buy-to-let landlords dying out – and should we care?
Higher taxes and tougher regulations have led to the disappearance of tens of thousands of rental properties
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:16 PM
🚨 Landlordism is one of the ugliest aspects of UK inequality. Living off rent (always set as high as possible) derived from the work of others is a fundamental unfairness. It's a symptom of a failed housing system - one where profit has been prioritised over need. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
If John Pilger was around today, he'd have a lot to say about the Venezuela situation.
January 5, 2026 at 3:06 PM
If John Pilger was around today, he'd have a lot to say about the Venezuela situation.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Announcement!
𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗖𝗨 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.
🗳️Voting begins 30 Jan.
I think UCU has to stand up for education, research and publicly-accountable science.
My election blog is at seanwallis.uk Join me!
𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗖𝗨 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.
🗳️Voting begins 30 Jan.
I think UCU has to stand up for education, research and publicly-accountable science.
My election blog is at seanwallis.uk Join me!
Sean Wallis - for UCU Vice President
For a stronger and more democratic UCU led by ordinary members
seanwallis.uk
January 2, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Announcement!
𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗖𝗨 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.
🗳️Voting begins 30 Jan.
I think UCU has to stand up for education, research and publicly-accountable science.
My election blog is at seanwallis.uk Join me!
𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗖𝗨 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.
🗳️Voting begins 30 Jan.
I think UCU has to stand up for education, research and publicly-accountable science.
My election blog is at seanwallis.uk Join me!
Reposted by Ross Gibson
‘The fight of our lives’
What the USS strike of 2018 tells us about the union today Introduction When Higher Education becomes a market, every VC and SMT see every other university as their competition. When they invest in campuses speculatively, and fortunes are won and lost in the Great…
What the USS strike of 2018 tells us about the union today Introduction When Higher Education becomes a market, every VC and SMT see every other university as their competition. When they invest in campuses speculatively, and fortunes are won and lost in the Great…
‘The fight of our lives’
What the USS strike of 2018 tells us about the union today Introduction When Higher Education becomes a market, every VC and SMT see every other university as their competition. When they invest in campuses speculatively, and fortunes are won and lost in the Great University Gamble, the sector enters a period of turmoil. In the late summer of 2017, when the ink was barely dry on the…
seanwallis.uk
January 2, 2026 at 3:58 PM
‘The fight of our lives’
What the USS strike of 2018 tells us about the union today Introduction When Higher Education becomes a market, every VC and SMT see every other university as their competition. When they invest in campuses speculatively, and fortunes are won and lost in the Great…
What the USS strike of 2018 tells us about the union today Introduction When Higher Education becomes a market, every VC and SMT see every other university as their competition. When they invest in campuses speculatively, and fortunes are won and lost in the Great…
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Yes, it's almost certain 2026 will be worse than 2025. This isn't a reason to panic: it's a reason to step up your work on resistance, connect with others, lend a hand or share practical skills.
As someone wise once said, you don't rise to the occasion: you fall to the level of your training.
As someone wise once said, you don't rise to the occasion: you fall to the level of your training.
January 1, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Yes, it's almost certain 2026 will be worse than 2025. This isn't a reason to panic: it's a reason to step up your work on resistance, connect with others, lend a hand or share practical skills.
As someone wise once said, you don't rise to the occasion: you fall to the level of your training.
As someone wise once said, you don't rise to the occasion: you fall to the level of your training.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
📢 THANK YOU for your support this year ♥️ Below is a reminder of the gross #inequality that ruins the UK every day. Figures are based on the High Pay Centre’s findings that, in 2024/25, the AVERAGE FTSE 100 CEO gouged a “salary” of £4,580,000. Divide by 365 and you get a daily pay out of £12,548 🤮🤮🤮
December 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM
📢 THANK YOU for your support this year ♥️ Below is a reminder of the gross #inequality that ruins the UK every day. Figures are based on the High Pay Centre’s findings that, in 2024/25, the AVERAGE FTSE 100 CEO gouged a “salary” of £4,580,000. Divide by 365 and you get a daily pay out of £12,548 🤮🤮🤮
Reposted by Ross Gibson
The UK media’s silence on the Palestine Action activists’ hunger strikes is a deliberate editorial choice - Professor Bart Cammaerts
blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
The UK media’s silence on the Palestine Action activists’ hunger strikes is a deliberate editorial choice - Media@LSE
LSE's Professor Bart Cammaerts discusses the lack of coverage of the hunger strikes of imprisoned Palestine Action activists in the UK media.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
December 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
The UK media’s silence on the Palestine Action activists’ hunger strikes is a deliberate editorial choice - Professor Bart Cammaerts
blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
UCU management are destroying the union under cover of branches too busy fighting against sector meltdown. It’s about time those NEC members and UCU branches horrified at what’s being done in their name demanded accountability.
Oh, and maybe take a closer look at the accounts while you’re at it.
Oh, and maybe take a closer look at the accounts while you’re at it.
December 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
UCU management are destroying the union under cover of branches too busy fighting against sector meltdown. It’s about time those NEC members and UCU branches horrified at what’s being done in their name demanded accountability.
Oh, and maybe take a closer look at the accounts while you’re at it.
Oh, and maybe take a closer look at the accounts while you’re at it.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Heriot-Watt Scholar provide online learning to Scottish schools, colleges, & to HW students
You, your children or your students may have used it.
You can help secure Scholar for future learners. Use the form to speak out for a unique learning service👇
heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2025/12/02/s...
You, your children or your students may have used it.
You can help secure Scholar for future learners. Use the form to speak out for a unique learning service👇
heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2025/12/02/s...
Support for Scholar - Scotland's National Digital Learning Service
UCU, Unite and UNISON are jointly coordinating an effort to gather notes of endorsement for Scholar, a national digital learning service, used by senior phase learners across Scotland, for over a gene...
heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk
December 18, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Heriot-Watt Scholar provide online learning to Scottish schools, colleges, & to HW students
You, your children or your students may have used it.
You can help secure Scholar for future learners. Use the form to speak out for a unique learning service👇
heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2025/12/02/s...
You, your children or your students may have used it.
You can help secure Scholar for future learners. Use the form to speak out for a unique learning service👇
heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2025/12/02/s...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
ICYMI: Curious about Artificial Intelligence and what it all might mean for children's social care? Announcing our new Emerging Insights Series of free, open webinars about AI beginning in the new year. Find out more and register now: buff.ly/Sbhhapy
December 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
ICYMI: Curious about Artificial Intelligence and what it all might mean for children's social care? Announcing our new Emerging Insights Series of free, open webinars about AI beginning in the new year. Find out more and register now: buff.ly/Sbhhapy
Reposted by Ross Gibson
Striking BL staff, struggling to pay their rent, advised to consider not giving presents this year, and interim CEO, Jeremy Silver, has the nerve to tell them they ‘don’t live in a real world’. Only 17% of staff guaranteed the Living Wage (£14.80 ph) suggests acute familiarity with the ‘real world’.
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Striking BL staff, struggling to pay their rent, advised to consider not giving presents this year, and interim CEO, Jeremy Silver, has the nerve to tell them they ‘don’t live in a real world’. Only 17% of staff guaranteed the Living Wage (£14.80 ph) suggests acute familiarity with the ‘real world’.
Reposted by Ross Gibson
🔴 NEW: The University of Edinburgh has quietly paid more than £750,000 to a controversial consulting firm amid job cuts - staff say bosses ignored "repeated" questions about its role.
Read more about 'Nousferatu' 👉 www.theferret.scot/p...
Read more about 'Nousferatu' 👉 www.theferret.scot/p...
November 30, 2025 at 8:30 AM
🔴 NEW: The University of Edinburgh has quietly paid more than £750,000 to a controversial consulting firm amid job cuts - staff say bosses ignored "repeated" questions about its role.
Read more about 'Nousferatu' 👉 www.theferret.scot/p...
Read more about 'Nousferatu' 👉 www.theferret.scot/p...
Reposted by Ross Gibson
I had an interesting set of interactions w AI-generated content that I think is instructive. A very bright student made a claim in an essay that struck me as outlandish, so I searched the question on Google which turned up that phrasing the search a certain way makes the AI summary agree w the claim
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I had an interesting set of interactions w AI-generated content that I think is instructive. A very bright student made a claim in an essay that struck me as outlandish, so I searched the question on Google which turned up that phrasing the search a certain way makes the AI summary agree w the claim