The UK government is making upwards of £4.9bn in profit from visa fees, citizenship fees & the immigration health surcharge. Meanwhile, people are getting into thousands of pounds of debt or going without food just to afford to these immigration fees. www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...
Government makes £5bn a year from immigration fees while applicants…
Home Office’s fees are up to 10 times the processing cost – and rising every year
thebureauinvestigates.com
To bring good growth to every postcode, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham must scrap Shabana Mahmood's earned settlement plans. Sign the petition now: act.praxis.org.uk/andy-burnham...
"There can be no meaningful strengthening of workers' rights without migrant workers' rights."
Emiliano Mellino@mellino.bsky.social · 2mo ago50 organisations, including major trade unions like @pcsunion.bsky.social , @ucu.org.uk, @neunion.bsky.social & @bfawu.bsky.social have written to Andy Burnham asking him to scrap the earned settlement proposals & meet with migrant workers in his first month as PM. drive.google.com/file/d/1yb4A...
Ultimately if rights are to mean anything, we must defend everyone’s rights together, and we can never accept a policy of division
Alasdair Mackenzie@alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 2mo agoIf the price for a bit of mild social progress is more racist crackdowns led by Mahmood, that’s not only a catastrophe for migrants & their families, but also a catastrophe for the chances of all of us of resisting the far right
Home Office, No10 & media all so slow to notice just how racialised Mahmood's (un)settlement (remigration by stealth) proposals were (maybe this impact unwitting accident, not design?) But > 2/3 of those on 15 year route would lose status first. More racialised for children than adults unless u-turn
At a time of insecure work, rising living costs and pressure on hard-won protections, we need stronger tools and alliances. Our new project will help increase understanding of workers' rights under int human rights law and strengthen links between unions and civil society.
Protecting workers and strengthening trade unions: our new partnership for economic and social rights | Just Fair
Rights in the workplace and beyond face significant risks ahead. Narratives of division are being weaponised to set communities against one another, and the ground beneath hard-won protections feels increasingly less stable. Building solidarity and drawing on all tools available to defend rights has never been more important. The recent advisory opinion from the International […]
justfair.org.uk
A few token places on safe and legal routes for refugees cannot in any way mitigate or atone for what this government has done and is doing on asylum or immigration policy. A thread trying to be clear-eyed about this.
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Call for Input: Localizing the right to adequate housing: How local governments and community-led initiatives can contribute the realization of the right to adequate housing. Deadline 21 September 2026 www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for...
🚨 Breaking: 76 civil society orgs have written to the UK Gov calling for economic, social & cultural rights to be recognised. 50 years ago today, the UK ratified #ICESCR50 and promised rights including housing, food & health. That promise remains unfulfilled. Read 👇 justfair.org.uk/wp-content/u...
The result of normalising Reform’s ideas? Neighbour is turned against neighbour | Nesrine Malik
The result of normalising Reform’s ideas? Neighbour is turned against neighbour | Nesrine Malik
‘Concern’ about immigration has now morphed into policing how ethnic minorities exist in our communities, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
theguardian.com
Great piece on how the threat of criminal sanctions can have a role in focusing the minds of employers who seek to 'buy out' their labour law obligations.....
Institute of Employment Rights@ieruk.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe end of the gig economy? The case of Spanish riders. What made food delivery platform Uber Eats Spain change their business model & take on full responsibilities as employers under Spanish labour law? New blog by Dr Antonio Garcia-Munoz, Glasgow Univ: www.ier.org.uk/comments/the...
A new blog for Social Europe, drawing from a recent keynote. I argue that AI at work is not just about efficiency. It is about managerial power, workers’ voice, and democracy. If democracy is eroded at work, it does not stay there. It reverberates into society www.socialeurope.eu/silicon-vall...
Silicon Valley’s Anti-Democratic Turn Begins at Work
Silicon Valley’s quarrel with democracy is not abstract — it begins in the workplace, where unilateral authority is normalised.
socialeurope.eu
Important @ieruk.bsky.social briefing by Prof. Ruth Dukes and Prof. David Whyte setting out key recommendations on what is needed for the Fair Work Agency to ensure workers rights are protected in practice and not just on paper: www.ier.org.uk/publications...
Briefing: the Government's Fair Work Agency risks becoming a ‘toothless watchdog’ - IER
ier.org.uk
Fair Work Agency’s priorities criticised days before its launch. Cornerstone of the UK’s Employment Rights Act ‘in danger of becoming a dead duck’, says @unitetheunion.bsky.social General Secretary. Look out for our detailed Briefing on the FWA tomorrow. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Fair Work Agency’s priorities criticised days before its launch
Cornerstone of the UK’s Employment Rights Act ‘in danger of becoming a dead duck’, says Unite boss
theguardian.com
I’ve spent the last year investigating how the UK's broken employment tribunal system lets rogue bosses evade justice. But this is the craziest case,by far. A restaurant chain that lost 21 tribunal claims over several years, yet never paid a single one🧵 www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...
Meet the restaurant boss who flouted judges’ orders for years
Jason Wells’ restaurant chain has cheated workers, lost 21 tribunal claims – and not paid a single one
thebureauinvestigates.com
"this is a structural design that disproportionately harms Black women... Employers are using childcare as a weapon, they use visa dependence as a leverage, they are using the vulnerability of migrant Black women to extract labour”
UNISON@unison.org.uk · 7mo ago'Employers are using childcare for migrant care workers as a weapon,' union says
📫 We have written to the Home Secretary to strongly oppose the UK Gov's earned settlement proposals and express concerns that they risk causing harm, undermining the rule of law, and raise serious questions about compliance with international rights obligations. justfair.org.uk/moving-the-g...
⚠️New @ippr.org research: 300,000 children will be hit by the Govt’s earned settlement plans. Retrospective changes will deepen child poverty, block access to higher education & trap families in years of uncertainty. This is precarity by design. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR
Thinktank analysis says proposed ‘earned settlement’ changes could trap families in prolonged insecurity
theguardian.com
In Hungary, almost half a million older people receive pensions that leave them living below the poverty line. In a new report, HRW shows how the Hungarian government is failing to ensure older people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living. Read more: https://bit.ly/4jBH4VG
Just Fair's statement on the UK Government's proposed asylum 'reforms' "This is a critical moment for the UK, a time for deep reflection on what kind of country we are, and what kind of country we want to be" There is an alternative to advancing division and cruelty
Just Fair@justfairuk.bsky.social · 10mo agoEveryone has the right to a safe and decent home, access to good work, and support in times of need. Human rights belong to everyone. Read our statement on the UK Government’s proposed asylum ‘reforms’ 👇 justfair.org.uk/just-fair-st...
In 2023 @tom-clark.bsky.social got me to write a chapter for his book on UK poverty about how immigration limbo, which Labour wants more of, makes people destitute. It was the most distressing piece I've ever worked on. We sent a copy to every MP. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/6081...
Destitute by design: trapped in the immigration system
Migration policy is not only failing people forced to arrive in Britain by boats. In an extract from a new edited volume, Daniel Trilling reports on t...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
‘Government sources said rules that mean most asylum seekers are not allowed to have jobs will not change.’ It’s absurd that the govt chooses to continue with a rule that puts asylum seekers in a situation of dependency, then attacks then for needing ‘handouts’ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
UK government set to make support for asylum seekers ‘discretionary’
Home secretary expected to change system to deny help to those who can work or who have assets
theguardian.com
The response to Lam's comments should be a swift, decisive and clear rejection of them ..... this is not that
Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 11mo ago“We welcome those who come to this country, legally, and give more than they take. We believe the right to stay here must not be automatic, but that those who play their part should be able to earn that right."
Great video from our friends @savechildrenuk.bsky.social The government must scrap the two-child limit.
As the #UCBill (without PIP) returns to UK Parliament for its third (and final?) reading, my post for @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/07... The watered-down version of the Bill will still negatively affect many with disabilities and long term health conditions. The government should scrap it.
Revised UK Social Security Bill Still Harms Rights
The UK government’s draft law to cut spending on disability-related social security triggered major opposition from within the ruling party, forcing the government to roll back some of the legislation...
hrw.org
Pitting one group against another... in the spending cuts olympics. Here the two-child limit. See also the ideas floated on cutting spending on education and health care plans for children with special educational needs. Why can't politics be based on rights rather than a race to the bottom?
Frances Ryan@francesryan.bsky.social · last yr.Note No.10 is starting work on its new narrative: “We can’t stop the two child limit ‘cos they made us u-turn on disability benefits.” Child poverty v disability poverty is not a contest. Labour is responsible for its choices and solutions - not disabled people. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Version of the classic 1936 poster. "Aixafem el feixisme" (Let’s crush fascism) by Pere Català i Pic. This one also reads "No to fascism. Neither on the streets, nor in the town halls." From the 2023 Catalan municipal elections. Damn, this is an image for our times...
"cruelty charter" - excellent piece from @johnharris1969.bsky.social on the UK Government's social security proposals www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Look at Labour’s cruel attitude towards disability benefits, then tell me Keir Starmer cares about 'human dignity' | John Harris
These proposed cuts will turn people’s lives into a nightmare. No wonder they are scared about where this all might lead, says Guardian columnist John Harris
theguardian.com
