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Alex Stevens

@profalexstevens.bsky.social
1.4K followers 819 following 678 posts

Professor of Criminology, University of Sheffield. Trustee at Criminal Justice Alliance. Volunteer for Sheffield Jazz. Peak District walker. Drug policy geek.

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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Trumpism kills
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The last time Tories promised to build their way out of a prison crisis, NAO found it cost them £10 billion to build 1,000 net new places. Now they want to build 50,000 and say it will cost £2 billion per year. At that rate, these prison places would be delivered by the year 2279.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
What is it that prevents an apology, given the ongoing harms, the ongoing benefits to the UK of the assets built on the profits, and the direct involvement of the aristocracy?
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It feeds a fascination with pretence, gossip and speculation over facts and rational debage. It is perfect for our media age.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Coverage in The House of effortd to expand harm reduction at local level #stopthedeaths
share.google
Green Councils Fight For Drug Consumption Rooms
The Green Party’s success in English local elections has put fresh impetus behind efforts to follow Scotland in providing safer drug consumption fa...
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
But if senior managers *believe* that codified systems can replace tacit, human knowledge, then those jobs get cut anyway: lnkd.in/p/eBdQCD9U
lnkd.in
How universities have been reorganised into incompetence | Alex Stevens | 122 comments
My latest blog explains how universities have been reorganised into administrative incompetence, not because professional services colleagues are bad at their jobs, but because academics are (and yes,...
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CNN - Cannabis News Network @canna-news-network.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
EUROPE 🇵🇹: Portugal's Drug Policy - 25 Years of Decriminalization Success👇🏻 www.miragenews.com/portugals-dr...
miragenews.com
Portugal's Drug Policy: 25 Years of Decriminalization Success
Nearly 70,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2025. While that is a decline from the nearly 108,000 deaths recorded in 2022, these grim figures
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Tim Newburn @timnewburn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
JOB: Senior Lecturer in Criminology/Criminal Justice, Newcastle University jobs.ac.uk/job/DTB032/sen… #criminology
jobs.ac.uk
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Of course, it's the loan companies. #thebankeralwayswins
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The Guardian tells us that 'universities are a scam'. Times Higher finds that uni's are losing £3,000 per student. So who exactly is profiting from this scam?
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Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The only thing we learn from this is that Adam Smith anticipated the BBC: the "disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful...is...the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
They should at least balance this by doing a vox pop to see what the average bloke on the Stretford End thinks of him.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Where are the people who were bleating about 'two tier policing' now?
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 18/09/2026
It is incredibly important that political violence does not succeed. The far-right mob that shut down Portsmouth wanted this outcome. If the state wishes to avoid more of these actions, it needs to make sure this RNLI branch reopens *immediately*, or as close to that as humanly possible.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Listening to @uclhealthpublic.bsky.social's Dr Xand van Tullekan's comprehensive takedown of the fradulent wellness industry on Radio 4 #starttheweek. Save your money. Bin your supplements
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Signed, as a proud ex-lifeboat helm.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers) act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
act.38degrees.org.uk
An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI
This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The word is 'breaking'. Not 'sidestepping'. Not 'circumventing'. Not 'avoiding'. Not 'getting around'. Breaking. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Cambridge University examines conduct of academic suspended by Reform UK
James Orr, an associate professor, was shown in Channel 4 News footage apparently trying to sidestep electoral law
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
It's not just the numbers, but also the seniority of the people who left. Managers made it very clear they wanted fewer Profs. Many of us got the message and left.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"I'm afraid this will have to count as citizenship"
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Thinking about the UK gov report "National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems", Feb 2026. The language is incredibly stark. And it's *national security*, not exactly from tree-huggers: "Global ecosystem degradation & collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity... (high confidence)"
gov.uk
National security assessment on global ecosystems (accessible version)
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Good news. Now expand free travel to all trams (and expand tram networks). www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Disabled people in England to get 24-hour free bus travel – UK politics live
Burnham has announced a range of policies aimed at relieving pressure on financially squeezed households and businesses
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I wonder what an algorithm built on Gewirth's rationalist principle of generic consistency could replicate much of human morality (but worry that such a system would see itself as a prospective purposive agent, and so prioritise its own continued existence).
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I've been railing against the "he said, she said" model of news-as-gossip for years, but the economics drive it forward. It's a lot cheaper to summarise press releases and conferences than to do real, independent journalism.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Alibris is selling useable editions of Bryman's Social Research Methods from £3.50.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I tell my students to use any hard copy of the the 7 editions of Bryman's Social Research Methods because (a) the publisher makes the ebook ridiculously expensive, and (b) the basic concepts are the same across editions, and it's an introductory course.
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Private Eye cover. Red sky at night, Europe's alight! Red sky in the morning, I wonder if it could possibly be global warming?
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NEW OLD SAYINGS
ABOUT THE WEATHER
Red sky at night, Europe's alight!
Red sky in the morning, I wonder if it could possibly be global warming?
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30! 40! 50! PHEW! WHAT A SCORCHED-EARTH!
Promise of Roosevelt
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
As if their immigration plan would survive its first conract with reality.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It doesn't seem fair to make people who have become functionally numerate (but hate maths) study more algebra and calculus.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
What does post-16 compulsory maths cover for people who have passed their GCSE?
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Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 29/07/2026
New story on Reform's finances from @annaisaac.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
So depressingly predictable. Sentencing policy based on a major report, followed by months of parliamentary scrutiny and debate, gets overturned on its first contact with populist politics.
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APSAD DAR @apsad-dar.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🆕 Discordant Drug Checking Results and Risk Reduction Behaviours: Findings From the ChecKnow Study in France Samuel Tobias, Julio Del Amo, Sophie Albert, Marion Aubert, Anissa Zerrari, Pierre Chappard, Lianping Ti, Perrine Roux doi.org/10.1111/dar.70216 SESSTIM, Aix Marseille Université
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Harm Reduction International @harmreductionintl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Belfast is ready to welcome our global harm reduction community. 💙 A city that has navigated conflict through dialogue and reconciliation, a powerful reminder of the importance of resilience, reform, and self-determination. Join us at #HR27Belfast! 👉https://hr27.hri.global
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Thank god for that!
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This proposal on university fees is so stupud that I'm guessing it came direct from Policy Exchange.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
If Spain beat England, we all go Catholic and the monasteriers get reopened.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Shame that Morocco couldn't beat France.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
BBC World Service this morning is covering the killing of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking, with no family contact, and lack of due process.
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Transform Justice @transformjustice.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
⚠️Have you listened to our latest podcast episode yet? @profalexstevens.bsky.social and Dr. Bisi Akintoye join us to explore the different ways of policing drugs. What's effective? What's fair? Should drug use be decriminalised? 🎧Find out what our experts had to say - listen now: pod.fo/e/43a194
pod.fo
The Transform Justice Podcast: Ep61: Policing drugs - instinct or evidence?
Transform JusticeTwitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TransformJust1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@transformjustice.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email: ⁠⁠...
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Really exciting. This is also a method that could be used to track the development and influence of drug policy constellations.
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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Remember that the tuition fee rise just about covers the simultaneous increase in employer national insurance contributions for universities, so cutting teaching grants on this basis means universities on life support being subject to a shake down and being expected to say thanks for the privilege.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Give him a break, he can't talk!
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
This is how the normalisation of self-exploiration in higher education works.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Mondeo man rules again.
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Transform Justice @transformjustice.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
🚨NEW EPISODE🚨 Should ‘gut feeling’ be used to make decisions in drugs policing? Dr. Bisi Akintoye and @profalexstevens.bsky.social talk stop and search, diversion and the impact of over-policing on community relations. 🎧Listen now: pod.fo/e/43a194
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
It is vital that we win the fight against fire-and-rehire (on worse terms) in HE. It is shameful that managers even propose it.
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Huw C. Davies @huwcdavies.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Benefits of education that you'll never read about within any discussions about HE.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I idly wonder what this is doing to the proportion of academics who have twins (given their increased likelihood among older mothers), and so to stress levels in academic families.
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