Se-shauna Wheatle
@seshauna.bsky.social
Constitutional law professor. Cat lover.
https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/research/ucnp/
https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/research/ucnp/
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC.
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Scrapping REF should be ‘serious’ option, says Manchester VC - Research Professional News
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:43 AM
Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC.
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
New research shows 1.35m people already living in the UK would face a longer qualifying period for settlement under changes planned by the Home Office, including over 300,000 children
Government must publish an impact assessment before going ahead with these reforms, writes Labour MP Olivia Blake
Government must publish an impact assessment before going ahead with these reforms, writes Labour MP Olivia Blake
Changes to earned settlement risk deepening child poverty
The government must publish an impact assessment of its settlement reforms before going ahead with the changes.
www.politicshome.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:51 PM
New research shows 1.35m people already living in the UK would face a longer qualifying period for settlement under changes planned by the Home Office, including over 300,000 children
Government must publish an impact assessment before going ahead with these reforms, writes Labour MP Olivia Blake
Government must publish an impact assessment before going ahead with these reforms, writes Labour MP Olivia Blake
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Academic work is challenging & relentless, but how is it experienced by disabled scholars? How does structural ableism impact working lives? In this collaborative autoethnography, we (a group of disabled academics) share our experiences of working in higher education. doi.org/10.1080/0309...
Disabled and academic: a collaborative autoethnography on ableism and cruel optimism within Australian higher education
Universities are celebrated as bastions of teaching, knowledge and research excellence, but they can pose risks to staff psychosocial safety and wellbeing. In Australia and elsewhere, we are increa...
doi.org
February 6, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Academic work is challenging & relentless, but how is it experienced by disabled scholars? How does structural ableism impact working lives? In this collaborative autoethnography, we (a group of disabled academics) share our experiences of working in higher education. doi.org/10.1080/0309...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Devastatingly sad.
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
'When it opened, the campus housed a GP surgery and a new dental clinic offering free treatment to local people. This was followed later by the forum – a library and art gallery shared by the university and local people.' 1/2
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Devastatingly sad.
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Nottingham records £85m deficit after buildings drop in value
University insists underlying position has improved despite sharp rise in reported losses
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
University insists underlying position has improved despite sharp rise in reported losses
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Nottingham records £85m deficit after buildings drop in value - Research Professional News
University insists underlying position has improved despite sharp rise in reported losses
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 3, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Nottingham records £85m deficit after buildings drop in value
University insists underlying position has improved despite sharp rise in reported losses
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
University insists underlying position has improved despite sharp rise in reported losses
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Emma Bernard, 38, had been looking forward to a classic movie marathon with friends, but found herself unable to enjoy the evening after someone (Becky) incorrectly set the volume to a stupid, wrong number and just left it like that – like a monster.
Autistic woman’s movie night ruined by volume being on odd number that’s not even a multiple of five
An autistic woman’s movie night has been wrecked by the volume being set to 21, sources have revealed. Emma Bernard, 38, had been looking forward to a classic movie marathon with friends, but found…
thedailytism.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Emma Bernard, 38, had been looking forward to a classic movie marathon with friends, but found herself unable to enjoy the evening after someone (Becky) incorrectly set the volume to a stupid, wrong number and just left it like that – like a monster.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Many thanks for this great collection and pleased to have my article 'Public Power and Private Hands: Outsourcing in UK National Security Law' included.
The special edition of the KLJ on national security issues that I edited with Keith Ewing is now out in full. Many thanks to our contributors: www.tandfonline.com/toc/rklj20/3...
www.tandfonline.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Many thanks for this great collection and pleased to have my article 'Public Power and Private Hands: Outsourcing in UK National Security Law' included.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Absolutely brutal news in the research world to kick off the day. How we're making such a mess of this I have no idea.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Absolutely brutal news in the research world to kick off the day. How we're making such a mess of this I have no idea.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Now that blood is on the street, we still won’t admit you’ve been right all decade long while we scolded and marginalized you. Instead, we’ll declare it’s just now become right to say such things.
"Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus," Jonathan Rauch argues. "'Fascist' best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse." theatln.tc/wVq7MFaa
January 25, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Now that blood is on the street, we still won’t admit you’ve been right all decade long while we scolded and marginalized you. Instead, we’ll declare it’s just now become right to say such things.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
it's cool that so many people in positions of power and influence were so negatively polarized by "wokeness" that they convinced themselves that there was an actual debate about who wanted to erase history and the "wokes" were on the wrong side bsky.app/profile/arch...
"Slavery was real"
Tiny sign at the base of a brick wall that, until yesterday, held panels about the people enslaved by George Washington.
Presidents House, Philadelphia.
Tiny sign at the base of a brick wall that, until yesterday, held panels about the people enslaved by George Washington.
Presidents House, Philadelphia.
January 23, 2026 at 6:13 PM
it's cool that so many people in positions of power and influence were so negatively polarized by "wokeness" that they convinced themselves that there was an actual debate about who wanted to erase history and the "wokes" were on the wrong side bsky.app/profile/arch...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/01/21/n...
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
On 2 December 2025, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced significant reforms to criminal trials in England and Wales. Defending his proposals on the BBC Sunday progra…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
January 21, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/01/21/n...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Been thinking a lot about how people keep trying to foist the activist label on me because they’re uncomfortable with acknowledging the fact that I am just poet who writes about the world. This happens a lot to writers, especially those of us of colour. Writing is an inherently political act.
January 21, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Been thinking a lot about how people keep trying to foist the activist label on me because they’re uncomfortable with acknowledging the fact that I am just poet who writes about the world. This happens a lot to writers, especially those of us of colour. Writing is an inherently political act.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
If only there had been some clue that he was like this.
January 19, 2026 at 8:18 PM
If only there had been some clue that he was like this.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Ananya Kumar-Banerjee: The Tameside Duty Under the Adults At Risk Policy ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/01/19/a...
Ananya Kumar-Banerjee: The Tameside Duty Under the Adults At Risk Policy
In addition to challenging the role of the European Court of Human Rights in immigration issues, the current Secretary of State for the Home Department (“SSHD”) has proposed limits to the dome…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
January 19, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Ananya Kumar-Banerjee: The Tameside Duty Under the Adults At Risk Policy ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/01/19/a...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
I wrote this poem as an homage to Baldwin and to hear it being sung across the world or read in protests has been my own guiding light of hope.
January 18, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I wrote this poem as an homage to Baldwin and to hear it being sung across the world or read in protests has been my own guiding light of hope.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
So much wrong with this, with Labour fuelling anti migrant narrative and deliberately obscuring the difference between anything close to ‘open borders’ and what actually happened, namely post-freedom of movement migration under increasingly restrictive, employer-tied schemes with limited rights
Starmer keeps using this line, & it's bonkers.
Most importantly, it's untrue: the party that ended Free Movement, ran the "hostile environment" & made Suella Braverman Home Sec did not run "an experiment in open borders".
It's also politically mad. Voters who believe this will not vote for Starmer
Most importantly, it's untrue: the party that ended Free Movement, ran the "hostile environment" & made Suella Braverman Home Sec did not run "an experiment in open borders".
It's also politically mad. Voters who believe this will not vote for Starmer
!["And this is what Keir Starmer’s press secretary has said about Robert Jenrick at the lobby briefing this morning.
[Highlighted] Robert Jenrick was the immigration minister in a government that presided over an open borders experiment [Highlighted], a health minister who left people stuck on waiting lists, and a Treasury minister during the worst decline in living standards on record.”
While Reform continues to welcome failed Tory retreads, this Labor government is putting the country back on track."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cixgmtrg7nzy4gkmyfeosaox/bafkreibe3jczrmbmzfnhj2adl4qe432lbpmcbn6m6qrentwih7vxj4fu7y@jpeg)
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM
So much wrong with this, with Labour fuelling anti migrant narrative and deliberately obscuring the difference between anything close to ‘open borders’ and what actually happened, namely post-freedom of movement migration under increasingly restrictive, employer-tied schemes with limited rights
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Khadijah Ibrahiim lost her undergraduate dissertation hours before the deadline. Receiving an honorary degree last summer proved less stressful. Read about the Leeds-born literary activist, poet and dramatist, as we celebrate her contribution to the arts: spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/leeds-magazi...
January 15, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Khadijah Ibrahiim lost her undergraduate dissertation hours before the deadline. Receiving an honorary degree last summer proved less stressful. Read about the Leeds-born literary activist, poet and dramatist, as we celebrate her contribution to the arts: spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/leeds-magazi...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Good to see this man now has his grant of refugee status, I wrote up the judicial review in September: freemovement.org.uk/palestinian-...
![The applicant’s lawyers (not those instructed in this judicial review) publicised the outcome of the case, although there was no formal grant of refugee status that had been issued at this stage. This appears to have led to ministerial interest in the case. An internal Home Office note dated 13 March 2024 produced for the Minister made reference “to a story in the national press [presumably this, in the Guardian] reciting marketing publicity published by A’s legal team after the appeal was withdrawn, which had caused concern in Government.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k5romrv547iiifovvssafmqo/bafkreig2kcyppzl2l2z4c4j3obdhwegwbz2qjvgfgu5xhdmdusajprerna@jpeg)
January 14, 2026 at 7:21 AM
Good to see this man now has his grant of refugee status, I wrote up the judicial review in September: freemovement.org.uk/palestinian-...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
I have realized it was paywalled. Sorry all. There is a preprint available here: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
An interesting discussion of FWS by some prominent bioethicists here. I don't agree with all of it, but they make an undeniable point about the need for change to protect the rights of intersex people. 1/ jme.bmj.com/content/earl...
Who is a man and who is a woman? Implications of the UK Supreme Court decision
On 16 April 2025, the Supreme Court of the UK ruled that when interpreting the UK’s Equality Act (2010)—the Act of the UK Parliament that details protections against unlawful discrimination—the terms ...
jme.bmj.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:41 AM
I have realized it was paywalled. Sorry all. There is a preprint available here: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
(3/3) @jamesbowes01.bsky.social analysis, on which the Times article is based, explains the numbers and why the government's "earned settlement" proposals are a disaster economically as well as morally. [end]
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
The coming collapse in immigration to the United Kingdom - UK in a changing Europe
James Bowes analyses the fall in net migration to the UK as a result of government policies and explores some of the political and economic consequences.
ukandeu.ac.uk
January 10, 2026 at 3:57 AM
(3/3) @jamesbowes01.bsky.social analysis, on which the Times article is based, explains the numbers and why the government's "earned settlement" proposals are a disaster economically as well as morally. [end]
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
There were 29,300 student visa applications last month, 17 per cent less than in December 2024
"The Home Office will be pleased but pretty much everyone else will see it as the disaster it is—for university finances and the UK’s soft power," said Nick Hillman, director of @hepi-news.bsky.social
"The Home Office will be pleased but pretty much everyone else will see it as the disaster it is—for university finances and the UK’s soft power," said Nick Hillman, director of @hepi-news.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 3:48 PM
There were 29,300 student visa applications last month, 17 per cent less than in December 2024
"The Home Office will be pleased but pretty much everyone else will see it as the disaster it is—for university finances and the UK’s soft power," said Nick Hillman, director of @hepi-news.bsky.social
"The Home Office will be pleased but pretty much everyone else will see it as the disaster it is—for university finances and the UK’s soft power," said Nick Hillman, director of @hepi-news.bsky.social
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
As we move into 2026, Jamaica is slipping off the agenda — but the impact of Hurricane Melissa remains.
Nearly 4,640 have signed the petition for UK support.
Each One Bring One: share, sign, and help keep Jamaica on the agenda.
Nearly 4,640 have signed the petition for UK support.
Each One Bring One: share, sign, and help keep Jamaica on the agenda.
Sign the Petition
Britains £7m emergency aid for Jamaica and the wider Caribbean is a joke.
www.change.org
January 7, 2026 at 3:47 PM
As we move into 2026, Jamaica is slipping off the agenda — but the impact of Hurricane Melissa remains.
Nearly 4,640 have signed the petition for UK support.
Each One Bring One: share, sign, and help keep Jamaica on the agenda.
Nearly 4,640 have signed the petition for UK support.
Each One Bring One: share, sign, and help keep Jamaica on the agenda.
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2
The Guardian view on universities: Labour needs a clearer plan | Editorial
Editorial: Ministers promised a ‘change of approach’, but their new tax could tip weaker institutions over the edge
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:15 AM
'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2
Reposted by Se-shauna Wheatle
Staff at the University of Nottingham fear that planned course closures and changes to staff-student ratios could damage the university’s international standing and create “impossible” workloads, reports Juliette Rowsell #academicsky #edusky
https://ow.ly/YKnf50XNcFX
https://ow.ly/YKnf50XNcFX
December 23, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Staff at the University of Nottingham fear that planned course closures and changes to staff-student ratios could damage the university’s international standing and create “impossible” workloads, reports Juliette Rowsell #academicsky #edusky
https://ow.ly/YKnf50XNcFX
https://ow.ly/YKnf50XNcFX