Harry Stopes
@harrystopes.bsky.social
Historian and journalist. Writing a book on the history of prison. Mancunian in Berlin. www.harrystopes.com for work, and www.harrystopes.substack.com for somewhat work-related musings.
Pinned
Murder convictions in Moss Side ‘joint enterprise’ case referred to court of appeal
CCRC says new evidence undermines narrative Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Trey Wilson were in a gang
www.theguardian.com
THREAD. The CCRC has referred the murder convictions of 3 men who were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Abdul Hafidah in Moss Side, Manchester to the Court of Appeal.
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
The Home Office seems to believe that asylum seekers bring their children with them to the UK do so only in order to "exploit" them as a means to avoid being removed.
Apparently in the eyes of Mahmood et al, asylum seekers are not simply people who love their kids and want them to be safe.
Apparently in the eyes of Mahmood et al, asylum seekers are not simply people who love their kids and want them to be safe.
November 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The Home Office seems to believe that asylum seekers bring their children with them to the UK do so only in order to "exploit" them as a means to avoid being removed.
Apparently in the eyes of Mahmood et al, asylum seekers are not simply people who love their kids and want them to be safe.
Apparently in the eyes of Mahmood et al, asylum seekers are not simply people who love their kids and want them to be safe.
‘“Do we think that someone who has stolen a bottle of whisky from a minimart should receive the right to trial by jury?” she said.’
Just one problem with the Minister’s statement: how would you know that they did in fact steal the bottle of whisky until they have been tried?
Just one problem with the Minister’s statement: how would you know that they did in fact steal the bottle of whisky until they have been tried?
Another government of former human rights lawyers who forget that Judge Dredd was a satire, not a role model. Reminds me of the jury I was on where the forewoman said the defendant must be guilty because he ‘didn’t look sorry’.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
MoJ to remove right to trial by jury for thousands of cases in controversial overhaul
Exclusive: Courts minister says change needed to stop criminals opting for juries to delay cases, sometimes by years, and clear huge backlog
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:40 AM
‘“Do we think that someone who has stolen a bottle of whisky from a minimart should receive the right to trial by jury?” she said.’
Just one problem with the Minister’s statement: how would you know that they did in fact steal the bottle of whisky until they have been tried?
Just one problem with the Minister’s statement: how would you know that they did in fact steal the bottle of whisky until they have been tried?
Reposted by Harry Stopes
THREAD. The CCRC has referred the murder convictions of 3 men who were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Abdul Hafidah in Moss Side, Manchester to the Court of Appeal.
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
Murder convictions in Moss Side ‘joint enterprise’ case referred to court of appeal
CCRC says new evidence undermines narrative Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Trey Wilson were in a gang
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:31 PM
THREAD. The CCRC has referred the murder convictions of 3 men who were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Abdul Hafidah in Moss Side, Manchester to the Court of Appeal.
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
THREAD. The CCRC has referred the murder convictions of 3 men who were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Abdul Hafidah in Moss Side, Manchester to the Court of Appeal.
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
Murder convictions in Moss Side ‘joint enterprise’ case referred to court of appeal
CCRC says new evidence undermines narrative Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Trey Wilson were in a gang
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:31 PM
THREAD. The CCRC has referred the murder convictions of 3 men who were convicted in 2017 of the murder of Abdul Hafidah in Moss Side, Manchester to the Court of Appeal.
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
(Nathaniel Williams was also convicted of murder in the same case: his application on the same basis is still being considered.)
Exactly what this means for the present-day Nigel Farage is maybe a bit complicated, but there can be no doubt IMO that the teenager was an out-and-out fascist and racist. Wish this level of scrutiny had been applied to him 25 years ago.
‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school
Bafta-winning director among contemporaries urging contrition and apology from Reform UK leader, who denies the allegations
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Exactly what this means for the present-day Nigel Farage is maybe a bit complicated, but there can be no doubt IMO that the teenager was an out-and-out fascist and racist. Wish this level of scrutiny had been applied to him 25 years ago.
Reposted by Harry Stopes
maybe if he takes more consultant advice to move to the right on immigration he can turn those numbers around
November 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
maybe if he takes more consultant advice to move to the right on immigration he can turn those numbers around
Reposted by Harry Stopes
Berlin’s CDU, which has refused calls to examine banning the partly openly neo-Nazi AfD, is now demanding that security services review Die Linke for “anti-Israel” positions
November 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Berlin’s CDU, which has refused calls to examine banning the partly openly neo-Nazi AfD, is now demanding that security services review Die Linke for “anti-Israel” positions
Reposted by Harry Stopes
The UK already prohibits MARRIED BRITISH CITIZENS from automatic family reunification, including my own, which is why my wife and I have to live in a third country together. Mahmood wants to further erode the Right to Family Life assured by the ECHR. This is an evil anti-family and anti-human policy
Illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’ and system is broken, says Shabana Mahmood – UK politics live
Illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’ and system is broken, says Shabana Mahmood – UK politics live
Home secretary says it is ‘moral mission’ for her to tackle asylum system
Ukrainians are in the UK on a “bespoke scheme”, Mahmood says, and it is on a temporary basis.
If Ukraine becomes a safe country again and the conflict ends, “the principle of the new reforms are that if your country becomes safe then you will return,” she says. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
The UK already prohibits MARRIED BRITISH CITIZENS from automatic family reunification, including my own, which is why my wife and I have to live in a third country together. Mahmood wants to further erode the Right to Family Life assured by the ECHR. This is an evil anti-family and anti-human policy
Reposted by Harry Stopes
I for one am quite glad my family was not told to go back to Bialystok or Kyiv when they were "safe" in 1922.
November 15, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I for one am quite glad my family was not told to go back to Bialystok or Kyiv when they were "safe" in 1922.
Reposted by Harry Stopes
Behind the weasel words and prevaricating euphemisms, Britain's politics of immigration are rooted in an antipathy to the presence of negatively racialised people in this country *on any terms*. If we'd confronted that reality decades ago, and faced it down, we wouldn't be where we are now.
the video goes on and on about illegal immigration and yet the new proposal will target legal migration by confirmed refugees
November 15, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Behind the weasel words and prevaricating euphemisms, Britain's politics of immigration are rooted in an antipathy to the presence of negatively racialised people in this country *on any terms*. If we'd confronted that reality decades ago, and faced it down, we wouldn't be where we are now.
Reposted by Harry Stopes
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/
someone please reassure me the writer is doing this as a bit
November 14, 2025 at 5:53 PM
someone please reassure me the writer is doing this as a bit
"One should take this will seriously."
Translation: the former vice president of the Bundestag, (from the 'liberal' FDP), is insinuating that, if at all possible, hanging a banner in support of Palestine on the Brandenburg Gate should be a deportable offence.
Translation: the former vice president of the Bundestag, (from the 'liberal' FDP), is insinuating that, if at all possible, hanging a banner in support of Palestine on the Brandenburg Gate should be a deportable offence.
November 14, 2025 at 9:34 AM
"One should take this will seriously."
Translation: the former vice president of the Bundestag, (from the 'liberal' FDP), is insinuating that, if at all possible, hanging a banner in support of Palestine on the Brandenburg Gate should be a deportable offence.
Translation: the former vice president of the Bundestag, (from the 'liberal' FDP), is insinuating that, if at all possible, hanging a banner in support of Palestine on the Brandenburg Gate should be a deportable offence.
Esther Perel with a surprise intervention into the Lampard-Gerrard debate
November 13, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Esther Perel with a surprise intervention into the Lampard-Gerrard debate
very strange for an article published in 2025 to describe Friedrichstraße as "the main shopping street in EAST Berlin"
‘The car belongs in Berlin’: city backpedaling on bike-friendly policies, critics say
Car-critical measures have been slashed since the conservative CDU came into power in 2023, triggering protests and dividing communities
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:29 PM
very strange for an article published in 2025 to describe Friedrichstraße as "the main shopping street in EAST Berlin"
Reposted by Harry Stopes
Ich frage mich, welche/r nordamerikanische/r Denker:in derzeit in Deutschland eine Rede halten könnte, ohne einen kollektiven Nervenzusammenbruch zu provozieren. Mir fallen nur Donald Rumsfeld und Ayaan Hirsi Ali ein.
November 11, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Ich frage mich, welche/r nordamerikanische/r Denker:in derzeit in Deutschland eine Rede halten könnte, ohne einen kollektiven Nervenzusammenbruch zu provozieren. Mir fallen nur Donald Rumsfeld und Ayaan Hirsi Ali ein.
Genuinely confused as to what this article is supposed to demonstrate in contrast with e.g. coverage in the FR. (And ironic in this context that Steinke again brings up his claim that there is no censorship in Germany on the topic of Israel)
Ganz so einfach, wie es auf den ersten Blick aussieht, ist es nicht.
Jüdische Gemeinde distanziert sich von Redner
In Frankfurt wird der Faschismusforscher Jason Stanley eingeladen, zum 9. November zu sprechen. Das tut er, redet aber auch über den Gaza-Krieg – und kann seine Rede nicht beenden.
www.sueddeutsche.de
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Genuinely confused as to what this article is supposed to demonstrate in contrast with e.g. coverage in the FR. (And ironic in this context that Steinke again brings up his claim that there is no censorship in Germany on the topic of Israel)
You’ll never guess what year he’s claiming this was true for
I just don’t believe you. Dalston was most famous about that time among my social groups for being the (an?) epicenter of gang crime in London. Clapham and Camden and Angel were the hipster places back then imo.
November 12, 2025 at 7:43 AM
You’ll never guess what year he’s claiming this was true for
Reposted by Harry Stopes
The demise of the BBC is also a loss for civil society beyond Britain. The BBC of old had a huge influence across Europe where public broadcasters would buy and air these programs or be inspired to make them themselves (sadly, Brits rarely if ever bought European programs in turn).
A generation or two ago the BBC would have produced a detailed multi-episode history of Syria's civil war in the style of Alan Little and Laura Silber's Death of Yugoslavia.
Now a BBC that is uninterested in detail and deeply risk averse and seems barely interested in that crucial information space
Now a BBC that is uninterested in detail and deeply risk averse and seems barely interested in that crucial information space
November 11, 2025 at 8:26 AM
The demise of the BBC is also a loss for civil society beyond Britain. The BBC of old had a huge influence across Europe where public broadcasters would buy and air these programs or be inspired to make them themselves (sadly, Brits rarely if ever bought European programs in turn).
Reposted by Harry Stopes
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
April 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
German journalists always seem to show them themselves up when they write about foreign countries. The plonker responsible for this article (and presumably their editors) thinks that Cornell University is in New York. It’s fine not to already know that obviously, but maybe do your research next time
First we take berlin mit unserem "everyone is hamas" krempel, and now tagesspiegel wants to take manhattan?
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
Emigrieren Juden nach Mamdanis Sieg?: Zum ersten Mal ist da der Gedanke, New York zu verlassen
Schon lange fällt New Yorks neuer Bürgermeister mit Israelkritik auf. Zwei Jüdinnen erzählen, wie sie seinen Wahlerfolg erlebt haben – und welche Konsequenzen sie ziehen.
www.tagesspiegel.de
November 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
German journalists always seem to show them themselves up when they write about foreign countries. The plonker responsible for this article (and presumably their editors) thinks that Cornell University is in New York. It’s fine not to already know that obviously, but maybe do your research next time
Reposted by Harry Stopes
It isn't a problem you can triangulate round. if a not-anywhere-near-radical enough climate plan is too out there to win power in your political system, then your options are kill the planet or kill the political system. There's nothing else
November 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
It isn't a problem you can triangulate round. if a not-anywhere-near-radical enough climate plan is too out there to win power in your political system, then your options are kill the planet or kill the political system. There's nothing else
Ronay effectively doubling down on his original comment piece on this match, pretending the leaked police intelligence report never happened.
Fraught, tense and visceral: there’s never been a football match quite like Maccabi’s visit to Aston Villa | Barney Ronay
Undeniably strange and redolent of wider horrors at one remove, this Europa League tie was a groaning platter of geopolitics with a tiny little sprig of sport dusted across the top
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Ronay effectively doubling down on his original comment piece on this match, pretending the leaked police intelligence report never happened.
Read this
“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.”
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived
Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Read this