Reposted by Blair MelvilleSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Also under current proposals they won't be allowed to be social care workers after 2028. Ministers still don't seem to understand their own plan. 1427674
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Incredible fact! Worth reminding the ‘‘they’ come over here and don’t contribute’ brigade 051
Reposted by Blair MelvilleSir Almaviva @ilcontealmaviva.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Everyone should read this article. I'd rather not think about how much money we've already spent for my wife's spouse visa, her visa renewal, my citizenship application and how much more we'll spend for her ILR and citizenship. 2178
Reposted by Blair MelvilleHeather Stewart @guardianheather.bsky.social · 10/09/2026“The idea that you could be here for the next 10, 15 years and you’d still have no legal right to remain in the country … how the hell do you plan?..It cuts across any effort to integrate at all.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.com‘Fundamentally unfair’: Burnham must overhaul migration reforms, says TUC general secretaryPaul Nowak says changes to immigration rules risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment 11577179
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Some wee needed context and explanation of what has happened at Ceuta recently 010
Reposted by Blair Melvillethe3million @the3million.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Have you received a "grant in error" on your EUSS application? We are currently compiling cases to identify what action needs to be taken to ensure that the rights of EU citizens in the UK which were guaranteed under the Withdrawal Agreement are protected. 005
Reposted by Blair MelvilleJames Bowes @jamesbowes01.bsky.social · 18/07/2026This is telling. Work visa main applicants for entry only (excludes Apr-Sep 24 because of limited data). This would be even worse if student/graduate visa switchers, dependants, refugees and family/private life route included. (Countries assigned to ethnicity most immigrants from there belong to). 31711
Reposted by Blair MelvillePeter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 30/03/2026This is absolutely spot on from Emily Thornberry 👏 811240444
Reposted by Blair MelvillePeter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 26/03/2026The Prime Minister’s plan to offer rapid routes to settlement for those earning six-figure salaries whilst punishing and making lower-paid workers wait up to 15 years appears to be based on the notion that care workers are “low-skilled” because they are low-paid - its a disgrace 22386132
Reposted by Blair MelvilleSunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 27/02/2026Take two seven year olds in a primary school in the Prime Minister’s constituency. His Dad is a banker Her Mum is the cleaner at that bank Is the Government’s Ipoproposal that richer child gets permanent status at age 10 while in primary school & working class classmate not until they are 22? 11389149
Reposted by Blair MelvilleJon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Worth remembering that the settlement changes can all be made in the immigration rules - so not even an automatic debate and no real power for parliamentarians to stop them. Huge changes to people's live, with very little automatic parliamentary scrutiny. 11816
Reposted by Blair MelvilleAlf Dubs @alfdubs.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Children need their families. Refugee children are no different. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.com‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugeesExclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’ 0518202
Reposted by Blair MelvilleColin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 04/02/2026First post from me for a while on my occasional Substack, about Labour's earned settlement proposals and the damage they will do. open.substack.com/pub/wewanted... 14622
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Important speech in the debate around extending the length of time people need to wait before settlement - the proposals are a terrible idea which lacks any long term planing 010
Reposted by Blair MelvilleIan Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 30/01/2026Matt Goodwin and the end of England: How one man's career explains our public life iandunt.substack.com/p/matt-goodw...iandunt.substack.comMatt Goodwin and the end of EnglandHow one man's career explains our public life. 36560185
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Another practical issue with the ETA roll-out this year, dual British citizens will need to travel on valid British passports if they plan to enter the UK www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...independent.co.ukDual citizen Britons without UK passport could be refused entry under rule changeBritish citizens will no longer be able to return home on non-UK passports due to new entry requirements coming into force in February 010
Reposted by Blair MelvilleWork Rights Centre @workrights.bsky.social · 13/01/2026Getting ILR means the difference between being able to change jobs freely, and being tied to one employer with ultimate control over your life. Doubling the wait for ILR means doubling the time in precarity. Here's how to speak out against the plans⬇️ www.workrightscentre.org/our-campaign...workrightscentre.orgOppose ILR changes | Work Rights Centre 058
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 12/12/2025No surprise that migrant workers to the UK are net contributors! We need to stop demonising and scapegoating the health and social care migrant workforce. They are doing important work all while contributing to our communities (as well as to the exchequer) 000
Reposted by Blair MelvilleMark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 12/12/2025But what if I were to cover up the obvious gender discrimination by disguising the overwhelmingly female case study as a middle-aged white man? 19622
Reposted by Blair MelvilleRicky @paddington82.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Slides from a Home Office presentation for employers on “earned settlement” — note the case studies: they explicitly play the “good migrant” versus “bad migrant” narrative. Guess which category Sarah, the American, is placed in? 3415171
Reposted by Blair MelvilleChris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 10/12/2025A very useful guide from @alexinlaw.bsky.social at @freemovement.bsky.socialfreemovement.org.ukBriefing: the implications of the “earned settlement” proposals and what they might mean in practice - Free MovementWe’ve now had a few weeks to digest the “earned settlement” policy document, which outlines the proposed changes to the settlement system ahead of the public 043
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 18/11/2025Listening to the Today programme on BBCr4 this morning and I’m depressed - the constant conflation of immigration and asylum and ‘illegal’ migration. The overwhelming number of people who take up refuge in the UK just want a safe place to live and work like the rest of us! 100
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 18/11/2025I know many people have been saying this for a while now, but really? This is a Labour Government? 000
Reposted by Blair MelvilleAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 17/11/2025Your regular reminder that there is absolutely nothing "hard" or "tough" about targeting the poorest, most vulnerable, and least able to defend themselves groups of people on the entire planet 511186296
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 16/11/2025Aside from the sheer misery it will inflict on many people, have they thought about how to staff the asylum team? Where will they find the resources to make more decisions and to be actively reviewing cases when they can barely clear the existing backlog? 101
Reposted by Blair MelvilleBrendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 19/04/2025First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶s̶t̶ it was not the optimal poll-tested message 320139
Reposted by Blair MelvilleStrathclyde Law School @lawstrath.bsky.social · 02/04/2025A reminder that, in partnership with the SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust, a fully funded PhD opportunity considering private sector evictions in Scotland is now available at the @unistrathclyde.bsky.social Law School. Deadline: 2 May 2025 (with a view to starting in October 2025). 012
Reposted by Blair MelvilleMigrants' Rights Network @migrantsrights.bsky.social · 14/03/2025If you have witnessed or experienced an immigration raid since July 2024, pls get in touch anonymously by emailing policy@migrantsrights.org.uk, sending a Whatsapp/Signal message to 07534 488696, or by filling in our reporting tool at www.raids.migrantsrights.org.uk Please get in touch by 28 March. 01114
Reposted by Blair MelvilleMigration Observatory @migobs.bsky.social · 10/03/2025If you were listening to the Today prog this morning, you'll have heard the shadow Home Sec announcing new Conservative Party proposals to "bring to an end the era of mass low-skilled migration and clamp down on the large number of family visas currently being issued" - so, what are these proposals? 174
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 10/03/2025Chris Philip on #BBCR4 today says that he wants the minimum salary threshold for spouse visas to increase to £38k. This is for the partners of British citizens who happen to fall in love with people who aren’t British. 110
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 10/03/2025So the tories are at it again targeting immigrants their families (and benefits claimants - just for good measure). 010
Reposted by Blair MelvilleColin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 06/03/2025From yesterday: Increase to court and tribunal fees from 1 April 2025 | Sonia Leneganbuff.lyIncrease to court and tribunal fees from 1 April 2025 - Free MovementThe Ministry of Justice has announced increases to court and tribunal fees, to take effect for applications made on or after 1 April 2025. I have pulled out 023
Reposted by Blair MelvilleAsylum Matters @asylummatters.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Share this incredibly useful guide from @right-to-remain.bsky.social with everyone you can. Knowing your rights, and how to protect others, is as important as ever as the Labour Government copies the hostile, anti-migrant tactics of the previous one.buff.lyImmigration raids: your rights, and what to doWe have put together this simple blog against the backdrop of an increasingly violent and Hostile Environment towards migrants in the UK. This is particularly important in light of the recently… 0814
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 11/02/2025Getting British citizenship for many refugees just got harder - changes to the good character guidance will block those who have ever used false documents or entered on small boats from *ever* getting citizenship 010
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 20/01/2025It’s is not only flights back to the UK, I’ve had clients have difficulty boarding flights from the UK the UAE as their BRP did not have validity for 3 months and the eVisa was not seen as evidence 011
Reposted by Blair MelvilleAlasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 12/01/2025It’s no longer surprising, but it’s still always depressing (and shouldn’t be normalised), to see Labour asylum policy - here wrt rights to work - made up on the basis of speculation & right-wing propaganda. 🧵 65430
Reposted by Blair MelvillePOLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 09/12/2024Austria has announced plans to deport Syrian migrants following the fall of the country’s dictator Bashar Assad to rebel forces after 13 years of civil war, while France, Belgium and Germany are also working to pause Syrian asylum applications.politico.euAustria prepares to deport Syrian migrants after Assad regime fallsBelgium, Germany and Austria said they will halt Syrian asylum applications one day after rebel forces ousted the country’s dictator. 157030
Blair Melville @blairmelville.bsky.social · 03/12/2024The new eVisa system roll out is being delayed and BRPs which say that they expire on the 31st December will now be valid until 31st March Now all we need is every airline , all the banks, landlords and employers to be up to speed with the changes www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...theguardian.comUK delays full shift to digital immigration system amid eVisa flawsPeople will be allowed to use expired identity documents amid ‘real fear’ of another Windrush-style scandal 120