Mark Doidge
@markdoidge.bsky.social
Sociologist at Loughborough researching sport, environmental sustainability, antiracism & refugees. Member @fanseurope, trustee @britsoci
Pinned
One of the hardest things to do in academia is to try new skills and make yourself uncomfortable. We tried new creative methodologies with football fans and, for me at least, fear of looking stupid was a big thing.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
If Epping Council won it'd have been disastrous. That doesn't mean hotels are an acceptable form of accommodation, only the other day @ramfel.bsky.social released a report into how bad conditions are in them. It's that this government's alternatives are worse 3/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Rats, overcrowding and malnutrition common at UK asylum hotels, report finds
Home Office’s three accommodation providers made combined profit of £380m over five years, charity estimates
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
If Epping Council won it'd have been disastrous. That doesn't mean hotels are an acceptable form of accommodation, only the other day @ramfel.bsky.social released a report into how bad conditions are in them. It's that this government's alternatives are worse 3/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
"Good news, bad news" situation. It's actually good the Home Office won this one. Alternative was a raft of councils closing hotels with no suitable alternatives, meaning people were either made homeless or put in camps. Bad news, still no suitable alternatives. 1/
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Epping hotel must continue housing asylum seekers, judge rules
A council has lost its legal battle with the government in a landmark High Court ruling.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
"Good news, bad news" situation. It's actually good the Home Office won this one. Alternative was a raft of councils closing hotels with no suitable alternatives, meaning people were either made homeless or put in camps. Bad news, still no suitable alternatives. 1/
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The BBC is being weaponised by the right says Tim Davie, the former Conservative councillor, party member & prospective parliamentary candidate who was installed as Director General of the BBC under a Conservative government where he stopped satirical shows "constantly aiming jokes at the Tories".
Tim Davie tells BBC staff he sees ‘weaponisation’ as Trump threatens $1bn lawsuit – UK politics live
Tim Davie tells BBC staff he sees ‘weaponisation’ as Trump threatens $1bn lawsuit – UK politics live
Outgoing director general says freedom of press under pressure: ‘We have to fight for our journalism’
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:17 PM
The BBC is being weaponised by the right says Tim Davie, the former Conservative councillor, party member & prospective parliamentary candidate who was installed as Director General of the BBC under a Conservative government where he stopped satirical shows "constantly aiming jokes at the Tories".
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Net zero is one of the many areas where commentators are out-of-touch with public opinion in Britain. There is still broad support for cutting carbon emissions - except from among Reform supporters, who are the outliers.
🧵/ How far does the public support net zero?
Support: 60%
Oppose: 25%
Net support by party
Green: +81
Lib Dem: +67
Lab: +64
Con: +11
Reform: -44
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
Support: 60%
Oppose: 25%
Net support by party
Green: +81
Lib Dem: +67
Lab: +64
Con: +11
Reform: -44
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
November 11, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Net zero is one of the many areas where commentators are out-of-touch with public opinion in Britain. There is still broad support for cutting carbon emissions - except from among Reform supporters, who are the outliers.
Starmer would know; he's pandered to racists since becoming leader. Starmer has maintained the toxic division. He called us an 'island of strangers' & that migration has caused incalculable damage to the UK. His rhetoric echoes that of Enoch Powell, someone ostracised by the tories for being racist.
Racism returning to UK politics – and people are very scared, says Starmer
Racism returning to UK politics – and people are very scared, says Starmer
PM attacks ‘toxic division of Reform’ and gives strongest signal yet that two-child benefit cap will be lifted
*
UK politics live – latest updates
Decades-old racism is returning to British politics, and “it makes people feel very scared” Keir Starmer has said, warning that divisive hard-right politics was “tearing our country apart”.
Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return of the racist and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with decades ago”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Starmer would know; he's pandered to racists since becoming leader. Starmer has maintained the toxic division. He called us an 'island of strangers' & that migration has caused incalculable damage to the UK. His rhetoric echoes that of Enoch Powell, someone ostracised by the tories for being racist.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
The BBC is in crisis in the same way that GB News would be if you put Owen Jones on the board armed with a veto and plenty of coffee.
November 11, 2025 at 7:48 AM
The BBC is in crisis in the same way that GB News would be if you put Owen Jones on the board armed with a veto and plenty of coffee.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Newsmax being the company that paid two libel settlements for its false pro-Trump claims about the 2020 election - www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
November 11, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Newsmax being the company that paid two libel settlements for its false pro-Trump claims about the 2020 election - www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
Losing the BBC will be like Brexit. Things may seem bad now but they’ll get a whole lot worse. The BBC are terrible, as they uphold the status quo, but they’ll are a bulwark against unmitigated shite, as we see in the print media & on social media.
I do not understand the Labour government's reticence over defending the BBC and social media regulation. Their long-term survival basically depends on it. Their cowardice in the face of it may be the single thing they are most remembered for.
on.ft.com/3JVxC1Z via @FT
on.ft.com/3JVxC1Z via @FT
BBC faces ‘existential’ threat after exit of top executives
Broadcaster’s deepest crisis in recent history comes amid fresh questions over its future role in British society
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Losing the BBC will be like Brexit. Things may seem bad now but they’ll get a whole lot worse. The BBC are terrible, as they uphold the status quo, but they’ll are a bulwark against unmitigated shite, as we see in the print media & on social media.
Bet Labour don’t follow this policy. Why do they only follow the racist policies of Reform? 🤔
Scoop from @cjayanetti.bsky.social - Reform-led council is planning to double council tax on second homes six months after Nigel Farage denounced such policies as “madness” www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Reform Council To Double Tax On Second Homes Despite Nigel Farage Calling The Idea 'Madness'
A Reform-led council is planning to double council tax on second homes six months after party leader Nigel Farage denounced such policies as “madne...
www.politicshome.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Bet Labour don’t follow this policy. Why do they only follow the racist policies of Reform? 🤔
Coming to a United Kingdom near you
a new genre of photo in the last year is federal agents working for ICE pointing guns directly at photographers
November 11, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Coming to a United Kingdom near you
Trump & the right are showing that liberal institutions only continue as long as we believe in them. When one side refuses to believe in them or their rules, there is limited power to do anything. At the same time, liberal institutions have made it harder for the people to protest or have a voice.
A brilliant example of what Lewis Goodall talks about when he argues why right-wing radicals keep winning. They don't play by the rules and simply don't care. Whereas the institutions they want to destroy do even when said rules are contorted to absurdity and are blatantly being used against them.
The founder of Newsmax was just on the Today programme pontificating about bias. Boy, the BBC loves to submit itself to flagellation.
November 11, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Trump & the right are showing that liberal institutions only continue as long as we believe in them. When one side refuses to believe in them or their rules, there is limited power to do anything. At the same time, liberal institutions have made it harder for the people to protest or have a voice.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
A brilliant example of what Lewis Goodall talks about when he argues why right-wing radicals keep winning. They don't play by the rules and simply don't care. Whereas the institutions they want to destroy do even when said rules are contorted to absurdity and are blatantly being used against them.
The founder of Newsmax was just on the Today programme pontificating about bias. Boy, the BBC loves to submit itself to flagellation.
November 11, 2025 at 8:45 AM
A brilliant example of what Lewis Goodall talks about when he argues why right-wing radicals keep winning. They don't play by the rules and simply don't care. Whereas the institutions they want to destroy do even when said rules are contorted to absurdity and are blatantly being used against them.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
The Telegraph had to correct its multiple lies about "illegal immigrants" in London at least three separate times.
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The Telegraph had to correct its multiple lies about "illegal immigrants" in London at least three separate times.
Who now reads Times Higher? They seemingly publish uncritical reactionary pieces that fail to actually care about the future of HE.
A puff piece that relentlessly refuses to adduce actual evidence or to consider that any aspect of 'the other side' might have any virtue. Why publish this superficial guff? The topic deserves much better.
Universities risk irrelevance by failing to engage fully with AI
It is difficult to think of another sector that has so dismally failed to strategically engage with the transformative potential of IT, says Ian Richardson
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Who now reads Times Higher? They seemingly publish uncritical reactionary pieces that fail to actually care about the future of HE.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
there's a moment in PARADISE LOST where Satan arrives in Eden and realizes Hell isn't a place; it's a thing he carries within him and it'll follow him wherever he goes. and i think about that when i see these awful rich men whose monstrous wealth has enriched them not at all
“whatever club he’s invited to join has been devalued by the invitation”
November 11, 2025 at 6:31 AM
there's a moment in PARADISE LOST where Satan arrives in Eden and realizes Hell isn't a place; it's a thing he carries within him and it'll follow him wherever he goes. and i think about that when i see these awful rich men whose monstrous wealth has enriched them not at all
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Good thread analysing a tweet from a Spectator writer that is genuinely weird in just how online-far-right it is coded.
Like, almost every word in it.
Like, almost every word in it.
Fascinating to break this down and understand what stage of brainworms the Spectatorati are at now.
November 11, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Good thread analysing a tweet from a Spectator writer that is genuinely weird in just how online-far-right it is coded.
Like, almost every word in it.
Like, almost every word in it.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Some of the most powerful and well-paid people in the world don't understand a lesson that every schoolchild knows: if you surrender to bullies, they will only bully you more
November 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Some of the most powerful and well-paid people in the world don't understand a lesson that every schoolchild knows: if you surrender to bullies, they will only bully you more
This is why the focus on growth for growth’s sake is the logic of cancer. We should always ask ‘growth for whom?’ and ‘growth from what?’
Mitigation efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the Paris Agreement have been offset by economic growth
There is no economic growth on a dead planet
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
There is no economic growth on a dead planet
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Mitigation efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the Paris Agreement have been offset by economic growth - Communications Earth & Environment
Global carbon dioxide intensity declined from 2015 to 2024 following the Paris Agreement, but total emissions still increased due to economic growth, according to a global analysis of population, gros...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:43 AM
This is why the focus on growth for growth’s sake is the logic of cancer. We should always ask ‘growth for whom?’ and ‘growth from what?’
The BBC is a metaphor for the Labour Party. And they’ve both ended up destroying themselves
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."
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 AM
The BBC is a metaphor for the Labour Party. And they’ve both ended up destroying themselves
Reposted by Mark Doidge
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."
Reposted by Mark Doidge
"Universities teach us to ask questions without tidy answers. They train us to look for truths we didn’t know existed and to challenge assumptions we didn’t realise we held. At their best, they remind us that intellect isn’t about having opinions, it’s about earning them."
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
"Universities teach us to ask questions without tidy answers. They train us to look for truths we didn’t know existed and to challenge assumptions we didn’t realise we held. At their best, they remind us that intellect isn’t about having opinions, it’s about earning them."
The West is being divided by internal conflicts, fuelled on social media, by nationalists who supposedly love their country but are weakening it. All this benefits is Russia and China. And our politicians have no ideas to challenge this far-right sewage online.
"Even in one of the most stable democracies in the world, the threat of extremist violence is transforming political representation."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
In Sweden, online hate and anti-immigrant extremism are driving women out of public life | Martin Gelin
A leading liberal politician has quit in fear of her physical safety. It is a crushing setback for democracy in one of the world’s most open societies, says journalist Martin Gelin
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
The West is being divided by internal conflicts, fuelled on social media, by nationalists who supposedly love their country but are weakening it. All this benefits is Russia and China. And our politicians have no ideas to challenge this far-right sewage online.
If only Labour had a massive majority to stop foreign money influencing British politics.
And if we think it’s bad now, imagine what it could look like, say, two months from a U.K. general election?
Could imagine huge sums in US far right cash flooding in, much of what would only be declared after the election (our electoral rules really are a jape)
Could imagine huge sums in US far right cash flooding in, much of what would only be declared after the election (our electoral rules really are a jape)
Be clear, the American far right are coming for British democracy.
November 10, 2025 at 7:39 AM
If only Labour had a massive majority to stop foreign money influencing British politics.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Fifa showing FIFPro the finger by creating yet another of those pretend forums filled with "legends", bypassing the trade union which represents 65,000 professional players worldwide. FIFPro could bring the house of Gianni down if it put its mind to it. It won't.
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Fifa showing FIFPro the finger by creating yet another of those pretend forums filled with "legends", bypassing the trade union which represents 65,000 professional players worldwide. FIFPro could bring the house of Gianni down if it put its mind to it. It won't.