David Hayes
@davidhayes4.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, School of Law, researching criminal justice and law's relationship to mythology. Branch President of Sheffield UCU. Vegan, wears orange, has beard, ferments. Other personality traits TBD.
Reposted by David Hayes
32 colleges hit the turnout threshold. 90% backed strike action.
Our ballots have already won pay deals at 17 colleges now others must follow.
College teachers are still paid £9,000 less than school teachers. This isn’t sustainable. Pay parity now.
feweek.co.uk/ucu-ballot-r...
Our ballots have already won pay deals at 17 colleges now others must follow.
College teachers are still paid £9,000 less than school teachers. This isn’t sustainable. Pay parity now.
feweek.co.uk/ucu-ballot-r...
UCU ballot results: 32 colleges vote to strike over pay and workload
Pay deals were agreed at a further 17 colleges during the ballot window
feweek.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
32 colleges hit the turnout threshold. 90% backed strike action.
Our ballots have already won pay deals at 17 colleges now others must follow.
College teachers are still paid £9,000 less than school teachers. This isn’t sustainable. Pay parity now.
feweek.co.uk/ucu-ballot-r...
Our ballots have already won pay deals at 17 colleges now others must follow.
College teachers are still paid £9,000 less than school teachers. This isn’t sustainable. Pay parity now.
feweek.co.uk/ucu-ballot-r...
Reposted by David Hayes
Lots of Labour MPs asking Mahmood tonight to rule out child detention. She won’t rule it out. That’s because forced removals of families will mean children in detention for periods.
Home Office ruling out deportation of lone minors but the changes will certainly mean more detention of children.
Home Office ruling out deportation of lone minors but the changes will certainly mean more detention of children.
November 17, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Lots of Labour MPs asking Mahmood tonight to rule out child detention. She won’t rule it out. That’s because forced removals of families will mean children in detention for periods.
Home Office ruling out deportation of lone minors but the changes will certainly mean more detention of children.
Home Office ruling out deportation of lone minors but the changes will certainly mean more detention of children.
Reposted by David Hayes
"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." Malcolm X.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Dark forces are preventing us fighting the climate crisis – by taking knowledge hostage | George Monbiot
The fundamental problem is this: that most of the means of communication are owned or influenced by the very rich, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:41 AM
"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." Malcolm X.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by David Hayes
To explain briefly: at the moment people successful in their asylum claims get permission to stay in the UK for 5 years, then have to apply for permanent residency. At that point a review of their status is done, but it’s rare not to succeed at that point unless they‘ve committed an offence 1/
To reiterate, this is about making life immeasurably more miserable and stressful for some of the most vulnerable people, in the almost certainly vain hope of winning over the votes of racists.
Anything more shabby and shameful is difficult to envisage.
Anything more shabby and shameful is difficult to envisage.
Asylum in UK to be made temporary under Home Secretary’s plans
Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday.
www.independent.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:36 AM
To explain briefly: at the moment people successful in their asylum claims get permission to stay in the UK for 5 years, then have to apply for permanent residency. At that point a review of their status is done, but it’s rare not to succeed at that point unless they‘ve committed an offence 1/
Reposted by David Hayes
Led by @libertyhq.bsky.social, almost 300 organisations across the UK have come together to defend the vital importance of the European Convention on Human Rights in protecting every person in the UK.
1/3
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
1/3
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Leaving the ECHR won’t stop the boats, 300 organisations warn in rallying cry
Prime minister Keir Starmer urged to make positive case for ECHR after Kemi Badenoch pledged a Tory government would leave the treaty
www.independent.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Led by @libertyhq.bsky.social, almost 300 organisations across the UK have come together to defend the vital importance of the European Convention on Human Rights in protecting every person in the UK.
1/3
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
1/3
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by David Hayes
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Powerful advocacy of the European Convention on Human Rights, currently a number one target of Britain’s Right and far Right. Sadly hardly defended by a government led by a human rights lawyer. Rights have become demonised as standing for ‘them’ not all of us
Powerful advocacy of the European Convention on Human Rights, currently a number one target of Britain’s Right and far Right. Sadly hardly defended by a government led by a human rights lawyer. Rights have become demonised as standing for ‘them’ not all of us
How the European convention on human rights became a battleground between the centre and the right | Daniel Trilling
For 20 years, populists have been blaming the ECHR for endangering Britain by offering basic protections to immigrants, says author Daniel Trilling
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:19 AM
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Powerful advocacy of the European Convention on Human Rights, currently a number one target of Britain’s Right and far Right. Sadly hardly defended by a government led by a human rights lawyer. Rights have become demonised as standing for ‘them’ not all of us
Powerful advocacy of the European Convention on Human Rights, currently a number one target of Britain’s Right and far Right. Sadly hardly defended by a government led by a human rights lawyer. Rights have become demonised as standing for ‘them’ not all of us
Reposted by David Hayes
It's Halloween and Westminster is looking spooky... 🎃💀
Here are some of the creatures haunting the House of Commons under First Past the Post:
Here are some of the creatures haunting the House of Commons under First Past the Post:
October 31, 2025 at 11:20 AM
It's Halloween and Westminster is looking spooky... 🎃💀
Here are some of the creatures haunting the House of Commons under First Past the Post:
Here are some of the creatures haunting the House of Commons under First Past the Post:
Reposted by David Hayes
Forgot I did another comic about the NT thing in @prospectmagazine.co.uk two years ago. I loathe all the culture wars stuff we have to wade through nowadays but I can't say it hasn't given us all something to write about. That's part of the problem of course
![1
[Title panel]
National Trust
Autumn Family Fun Guide
2
Go on a crunchy autumn rant!
Get your wellies on and kick through some leaves
while venting about the wokes
[Show someone red faced, kicking up leaves, shouting “BUT BRITAIN *ABOLISHED* SLAVERYYY”]
3
Make a stick man to argue with
Straw men are for summer, but in the autumn you can glue together sticks, woodland items
and made-up talking points for a fun debate
[A hand holding a little stick man with a pinecone head while the person argues with it: “Actually country houses *aren’t* racist”]
4
Forage for nuts in the NT Council Candidates statements!
See if you can identify the nutty right-wingers in the NT Council Candidates’ election statements
[Show a parent and child looking through NT website - child says
“I’ve spotted a mention of ‘woke forces’!”]
5
Make a woodland shelter to protect commonsense conservatives from all the wokeness
[Show a big box constructed on a tree trunk with a person hiding inside it. A child whispers to them from nearby:
“You are safe now”]
6
Build a cosy bonfire by gathering copies of the Interim Report on Colonialism and Slavery
[Show a bonfire scene, a person sitting next to it]
I mean it was AGES ago
7
Spot Some Candidates in the Mist
Every autumn anti-woke campaigners come out of hiding to try and take over the gaff. How many can you spot?
[Show people stalking round the NT property grounds like deer]
8
Join us for Spooky Storytime!
Throughout October our more right-leaning members will be telling scary tales of woke ghouls and demons
[Show an NT volunteer in a dark candle-lit hut, saying to children “They’re coming to kill our history…”]
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiemlstxynnffkf7c3ptrmeetuaem3c262pgcoulleh4glpv5qzytm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Forgot I did another comic about the NT thing in @prospectmagazine.co.uk two years ago. I loathe all the culture wars stuff we have to wade through nowadays but I can't say it hasn't given us all something to write about. That's part of the problem of course
Reposted by David Hayes
My comment? I'm proud of Green councillors who are doing everything they can to bring attention to stopping the genocide.
www.thejc.com/news/uk/hack...
www.thejc.com/news/uk/hack...
Hackney synagogue calls on Zack Polanski to suspend Green councillors who ‘rallied against Israel’ - The Jewish Chronicle
An extraordinary meeting of the council, called to discuss a motion to cut all ties with ‘Israel’s genocide’, led to an ‘inflamed’ debate
www.thejc.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
My comment? I'm proud of Green councillors who are doing everything they can to bring attention to stopping the genocide.
www.thejc.com/news/uk/hack...
www.thejc.com/news/uk/hack...
Reposted by David Hayes
Friendly reminder: these are the rights we all have under the ECHR.
They're not just for a privileged few
They're for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
They're not just for a privileged few
They're for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
October 29, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Friendly reminder: these are the rights we all have under the ECHR.
They're not just for a privileged few
They're for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
They're not just for a privileged few
They're for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
Reposted by David Hayes
Just in case anyone is listening, please note that UK universities cannot operate successfully on the basis of continuous reduction of academic staff and academic staff pay. No amount of staff wellness sessions will change this.
October 29, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Just in case anyone is listening, please note that UK universities cannot operate successfully on the basis of continuous reduction of academic staff and academic staff pay. No amount of staff wellness sessions will change this.
Reposted by David Hayes
A strategy based on 'well, what if everything political science tells us, everything economics tells us and everything history tells us is wrong?' is ending in a predictable fashion.
It's increasingly obvious that Labour's strategy - call it Starmerism, Blue Labour, whatever - has got it badly wrong. It has alienated the party's core vote while failing to win over those leaning to Reform. There was no shortage of people warning them they were getting it wrong either.
Three years ago, Labour was polling in the 50s.
October 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM
A strategy based on 'well, what if everything political science tells us, everything economics tells us and everything history tells us is wrong?' is ending in a predictable fashion.
Reposted by David Hayes
New preprint alert! 🚨
“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”
“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”
October 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
New preprint alert! 🚨
“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”
“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”
Hey Sheffield UCU folks! Please don't forget to vote in the national ballot on pay and job security. You should receive your ballot soon if you have not already done so.
October 24, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Hey Sheffield UCU folks! Please don't forget to vote in the national ballot on pay and job security. You should receive your ballot soon if you have not already done so.
Reposted by David Hayes
You might ask why he joined, and I don’t doubt I differ from Watson on many things, but I applaud his principled stand, recognition of the toxic direction of travel, and genuine commitment to multi-faith tolerance. We need more people today to be able to say ‘I was wrong to align myself with this’.
Local Reform chair Neville Watson quits party. An evangelical Christian who was seeking to diversify the party,he was uncomfortable at party language on immigration, support for Tommy Robinson among activists & he felt a weaponisation of Christianity against Islam
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reform’s only Black branch chair quits over ‘harmful’ migration debate
Exclusive: Neville Watson leaves amid concerns about weaponisation of religion and erosion of community relations
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM
You might ask why he joined, and I don’t doubt I differ from Watson on many things, but I applaud his principled stand, recognition of the toxic direction of travel, and genuine commitment to multi-faith tolerance. We need more people today to be able to say ‘I was wrong to align myself with this’.
Student attendance monitoring isn't part of a sinister web of surveillance and control, why would you even think that?
October 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Student attendance monitoring isn't part of a sinister web of surveillance and control, why would you even think that?
Reposted by David Hayes
Poem written in a copy of Beowulf by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Alastair Reid.
#medieval #medievalliterature #medievallit #middleages #medievalstudies #poetry #language #beowulf
#medieval #medievalliterature #medievallit #middleages #medievalstudies #poetry #language #beowulf
October 12, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Poem written in a copy of Beowulf by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Alastair Reid.
#medieval #medievalliterature #medievallit #middleages #medievalstudies #poetry #language #beowulf
#medieval #medievalliterature #medievallit #middleages #medievalstudies #poetry #language #beowulf
Reposted by David Hayes
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Reposted by David Hayes
Reposted by David Hayes
No sudden rupture is now required for the far right to take power in this country. For what we're seeing is a steady normalisation of extremists by the Conservative and Labour Parties, BBC, Telegraph, Mail and others. A shift once considered unthinkable beings to look acceptable, even inevitable.🧵
October 7, 2025 at 7:43 AM
No sudden rupture is now required for the far right to take power in this country. For what we're seeing is a steady normalisation of extremists by the Conservative and Labour Parties, BBC, Telegraph, Mail and others. A shift once considered unthinkable beings to look acceptable, even inevitable.🧵
Reposted by David Hayes
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
October 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
Reposted by David Hayes
⚠️ Introducing new powers to restrict our fundamental right to protest is not the answer
During times of fear people understandably want to see action, but restricting protest further is likely to fuel tensions by taking away legal and safe ways for people to make their voices heard
During times of fear people understandably want to see action, but restricting protest further is likely to fuel tensions by taking away legal and safe ways for people to make their voices heard
October 6, 2025 at 10:37 AM
⚠️ Introducing new powers to restrict our fundamental right to protest is not the answer
During times of fear people understandably want to see action, but restricting protest further is likely to fuel tensions by taking away legal and safe ways for people to make their voices heard
During times of fear people understandably want to see action, but restricting protest further is likely to fuel tensions by taking away legal and safe ways for people to make their voices heard
Reposted by David Hayes
Wish I could say I was shocked, but here's the Labour government constraining the right to peaceful protest again...
'You can protest but only according to our rules. The rules are: you're not allowed to use any of the tactics that make protest effective.'
'You can protest but only according to our rules. The rules are: you're not allowed to use any of the tactics that make protest effective.'
NEW: Home Office announces planned new anti-protest powers, mainly aimed at pro-Gaza protests like those for Palestine Action. Police will be able to consider the "cumulative impact" of repeated protests and potentially order that they be relocated.
October 5, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Wish I could say I was shocked, but here's the Labour government constraining the right to peaceful protest again...
'You can protest but only according to our rules. The rules are: you're not allowed to use any of the tactics that make protest effective.'
'You can protest but only according to our rules. The rules are: you're not allowed to use any of the tactics that make protest effective.'
Reposted by David Hayes
Just when you thought Keir Starmer's Labour Party couldn't get more illiberal, or more like the Tories...
"Change", my left foot.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
"Change", my left foot.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office
Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Just when you thought Keir Starmer's Labour Party couldn't get more illiberal, or more like the Tories...
"Change", my left foot.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
"Change", my left foot.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...