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Jennifer Blair

@squeakinglyjen.bsky.social
1.8K followers 667 following 680 posts

Feminist lawyer, Classicist, barrister at No5 Chambers. She/her or They/them pronouns

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Reposted by Jennifer Blair
Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The UK has a “hostile immigration environment” acutely felt by people who seek asylum. For queer folk, this means dealing with patronising interviews, bureaucratic disbelief, and narrow stereotypes about what it means to be gay. I’ve written more about this here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Screenshot or article link.
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Chai Patel @chaipatel.net · 15/04/2026
The real issue this highlights is decades of cutting legal aid, and creating a complicated, unfair and impossible to manage system, make people very vulnerable to anyone who tells them they can help, and can I have all your money please? Another way asylum seekers are exploited.
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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The ECHR doesn't oblige the UK to have a ramshackle & underfunded asylum system that is possible to exploit, the UK does that all by itself. It does oblige its states to provide protection to LGBT people facing very real threats of persecution, which gets missed here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Legal advisers help migrants pose as gay to get asylum, undercover BBC investigation finds
The BBC exposes a shadow industry charging migrants thousands of pounds to help them cheat the asylum system.
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This reminds me of when Braverman claimed people were pretending to convert to Christianity to claim asylum. As then, it ignores that majority of people only feel safe being out when they reach a country of safety. It ignores the obstacles they face. 7/ www.opendemocracy.net/en/abdul-eze...
opendemocracy.net
OPINION: No, religious conversion isn’t an asylum loophole
Clapham attack suspect Abdul Ezedi’s Christian conversion is under scrutiny. But faith can make asylum claims harder
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This reporting puts LGBTQIA+ as well as migrants' rights, groups at more risk of far-right attacks, undermines safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ individuals, and makes it harder for LGBTQIA+ people seeking asylum, who already face significant barriers, to be recognised, all based on a handful of anecdotes 4/
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This BBC undercover 'sting' alleging a sophisticated conspiracy of fraudulent immigration claims is complete rubbish. Their main story isn't about a lawyer, just 1 unethical creepy woman who brought a stranger into her bedroom to fleece him for a fake claim that would likely have been refused anyway
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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
1. At last a few details on the proposed new immigration and asylum appeals body. Letter from Home Sec to chair of the Justice Committee. Full text here committees.parliament.uk/publications...
committees.parliament.uk
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Dr Alex Fitzpatrick @animalarchaeology.com · 20/11/2025
Labour is effectively pushing to make it impossible for mixed nationality families to have a stay-at-home parent.
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KS_1968 @karenroberts.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Jenrick making things up again. His Dad was clearly never a gas fitter. Otherwise he certainly couldn't have afforded to have sent him to private school.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
The news from the past few days is a stunning example of what happens when the state decides it wants to crush just one guy
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
This rescue kitten has been brought to my door (I co-run a local cat rescue group). A foster has been lined up immediately because I should think if you spend more than 5 seconds with him you’d keep him. He is suffering starvation issues but otherwise seems ok. VERY CUDDLY!
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Dr Jo Wilding @jowilding.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.
theguardian.com
‘It’s about justice’: the couple pushing for legal aid for Windrush scandal claims
Home Office behaviour has convinced Hetticia and Vanderbilt McIntosh that only experts lawyers can change system
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 07/08/2025
The student newspaper. This fell. To the student. Newspaper.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
'The number of student-initiated PhD scholarships funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is set to fall by 60 per cent when new doctoral training arrangements come into effect next year, new figures show.' 1/3
timeshighereducation.com
‘Student-led’ AHRC PhD places ‘to fall by at least 60 per cent’
Internal modelling released under Freedom of Information enquiry reveals extent of PhD scholarship cuts, with academics fearing impact could be greater still
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Alarming but predictable - Armed police threatened to arrest Kent protester for holding Palestinian flag www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Armed police threatened to arrest Kent protester for holding Palestinian flag
Officers accused Laura Murton who also had a sign saying ‘Free Gaza’ of supporting a proscribed organisation
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
1. We interrupt this programming for some LEGITIMATELY GOOD NEWS Violent crime in Baltimore has PLUMMETED to historic lows How did the city do it? Baltimore adopted a comprehensive set of "woke" policies, treating violence as a public health issue
popular.info
The secret to Baltimore's extraordinary year
This April, Baltimore saw five homicides.
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Dr Maja Grundler @majagrundler.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
I am looking for UK immigration law practitioners to fill in a short survey about their engagement with legal academic work. There is also an option to take part in an interview at the end. Please do consider taking part and share with your networks: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/northumbri...
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Reverend Clive Foster speaking as the first Windrush Commissioner. He talks of encountering the scandal & those affected in his Nottingham church. "One by one, people came quietly and anxiously ... people who suddenly feared being treated as strangers in the only country they had ever known"
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
At Hackney Town Hall, where the Office of the Windrush Commissioner is launching today
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Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · 12/06/2025
❗️BREAKING — The UK Ministry of Defence admits it is “currently training” Israeli military personnel in Britain. The Labour government has until now refused to answer questions about this, which we covered last year. 👉 www.declassifieduk.org/amid-lebanon...
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Quitting my lucrative job as an international fentanyl smuggler to pursue my true passion, vacuuming the hallways of a Holiday Inn Express
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
this is good
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Efficiency is when you make the troops homeless *before* they're veterans
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has reported back to the government on the financial requirement for a partner visa - assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/684704... - vague but recommending a financial requirement in the £25k region.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Siân Pearce @sianp.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
This really gets me. I'm 45, there's not many front benchers a lot younger than me, and Northern Ireland was a massive part of life as we grew up. The idea that settlement should be tossed is incomprehensible to me.
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Incurable optimist @ameliat.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
I have signed!!! #SaveWoT #TheWheelofTime
media.tenor.com
a woman in a white dress stands in front of three other women with wheel time written in the corner
Alt: From episode 5 season 1 Moiraine stands in front of Nyneave and Alanna all in white thumping her chest. with wheel time written in the corner
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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
The Telegraph has deleted the seemingly made-up article titled “We earn £345k but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays” featuring “Al & Alexandra Moy” from its website... but, if interested, you can access an archived version here. h/t @alanrew.bsky.social archive.is/s1GPF
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
So if youve had your asylum claim withdrawn automatically+further submissions rejected without a right of appeal, can you actually be removed from the UK without anyone ever deciding your asylum claim? Seems...wrong?! (Reading this case fyi: tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/jr-202...)
tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk
Tribunal decisions
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
In my experience most refugees are desperate to learn English and if they don’t, the reason usually isn’t that they somehow lack motivation to integrate but that funding for English classes has been slashed over the course of many years
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Paul Duane 🥔 @paulduane.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
"Israel killed nearly two-thirds of the 124 journalists who died around the world in 2024" - you would imagine this would cause a commotion in the world of news journalism, wouldn't you.
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
I'd really, really like to see this covered with the prominence of the original Mail article. It deserves it and represents a very serious injustice as part of a picture of far right attacks on human rights defenders in the UK.
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CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
"Despite being entirely innocent of any professional misconduct, Khan was ruined by the combined actions of the Mail, the government and the SRA"
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Jon Featonby @jonfeatonby.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Ahead of report stage next week, the government have tabled their amendments to the Border Security bill, including trying to set a time limit for the hearing of some asylum appeals publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...
publications.parliament.uk
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CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
The Home Office has fined asylum accommodation providers £4 million for underperformance, out of contracts now estimated to be worth £15,300 million over ten years, the National Audit Office reports. www.nao.org.uk/reports/the-...
nao.org.uk
The Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts - NAO report
This NAO briefing has been prepared for the Home Affairs Committee as part of its inquiry into the delivery of asylum accommodation.
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Madeleine Sumption @msumption.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Asylum accommodation has shifted a lot over the last 6 years. More hotels but also much higher share in London & SE than under the previous dispersal policy See our new briefing on asylum accommodation for the background migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
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CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
English language standards for work visas could be increased, and refugees required to pass an English test to get permanent residence, as part of white paper proposals (Times reports) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Striking graphic from this piece. Donald Trump’s tariffs will boomerang on US exporters bsky.app/profile/mart...
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Gerry Canavan @gerrycanavan.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Douglas Adams saw it all coming.
Douglas Adams quote about the Electric Monk
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
I can't emphasise vehemently enough how much the answer to the asylum backlog is to pragmatically grant the stronger and even only-a-bit-strong claims of people who've been caught up in the massive delays. Instead the Home Office is fighting slow legal battles www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
UK asylum accommodation expected to cost three times more than forecast
Home Office says Labour inherited asylum system in chaos with applicants stuck in backlog
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Truly shameful stuff. Labour simply pandering to the most bigoted voters and deliberately making it harder and more expensive for immigrants to become part of British society.
ft.com
UK set to limit permanent residency for some migrants
Labour seeks to show voters it is getting to grips with number of foreigners coming to work in Britain
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Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
World Central Kitchen has run out of food to serve in Gaza. Its bakery ("recently the last working bakery in Gaza") is out of flour. There are 100,000+ tons of food in staging areas within driving distance of Gaza, and Israel refuses to let them in wck.org/news/gaza-up...
wck.org
World Central Kitchen | WCK Forced to Halt Cooking in Gaza as Supplies Run Out
After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza.
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Jennifer Blair @squeakinglyjen.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
A watched cat *never* births. I swear she’s planning to stay pregnant forever.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Asked whether Musk and Doge had improved any government services, Gimbel burst out in laughter. “No,” she said. “There has clearly been a degeneration of government services.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
As Musk steps back, experts say Doge cuts have harmed government services
The billionaire fired thousands of workers, but savings are minimal and offset by degradation of services, critics say
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Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I used to be a rape crisis counselor. I worked with girls as young as 11 and 12 who were raped by much older men. It was devastating. I see Dr. Bernard crying and I can’t help but think she’s weeping not for herself, but for this girl and the other girls this country is failing. #MomSky
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Jeffrey Weiser @stagestallion.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
“LGBTQ+ celebrations coast to coast are facing funding shortfalls as corporate sponsors cut back. And even backers are electing to be “silent partners.” wapo.st/43dOrfo
wapo.st
Big brands distance themselves from Pride events amid DEI rollback
LGBTQ+ celebrations coast to coast are facing funding shortfalls as corporate sponsors cut back. And even backers are electing to be “silent partners.”
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Luke Cooper @lukecooper100.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Excellent reporting here from The Observer on how deeply involved the British military are in the US bombing over Yemen which has recently included an attack on a migrant detention facility, killing at least 68 civilians. It should be a national scandal observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
UK more involved in Trump's war in Yemen than we realise
As 70 people are killed in an attack on a migrant centre in Sa’ada, Observer analysis shows that British involvement in Trump’s military action is deeper than ministers have admitted
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 03/05/2025
This sums the whole situation up quite nicely.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 03/05/2025
The obvious solution is to hire some, and then fire them.
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Polly Pallister-Wilkins @pollypw.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
The situation in Gaza is intolerable. reliefweb.int/report/occup...
reliefweb.int
Humanitarian Situation Update #284 | Gaza Strip - occupied Palestinian territory
Situation Report in English on occupied Palestinian territory about Education, Food and Nutrition, Epidemic and more; published on 30 Apr 2025 by OCHA
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