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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)

@vickyblake.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.8K following 520 posts

♥️education ♥️unions ♥️democracy Widening Participation @ Leeds Uni UCU NEC, negotiator, Educ'n Comm Chair, Climate+Ecological Emergency Comm Co-chair @leedsucu Branch Sec vickyblakeucu.uk Neurodivergent, LC #EduSky #AbortionIsHealthcare #CleanTheAir

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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Andrew Schreck @andrewschreck.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
i don't think cis guys realize how much power they can shift in a conversation just by casually telling their friends
"that's fucked up, man" when someone says something
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
UCU Scotland @ucuscotland.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Edinburgh University staff @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social begin five-week strike over £140m cuts #SaveHE #StopTheCuts www.heraldscotland.com/news/2658302...
heraldscotland.com
Edinburgh University staff begin five-week strike over £140m cuts
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) have taken to the picket line in protest over a £140m savings initiative they fear could result…
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The truth is, you can belittle maskers, shrug off disabled people, and call us all crazy a million times, but you’re going to have to live in the world you’re building with these choices, and outcomes don’t care that your views are popular right now. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/mor...
cidrap.umn.edu
More than 1 in 10 US healthcare workers report ongoing long-COVID symptoms, study finds
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Day 2 of 25 of our strike action. Students, colleagues, members come and join us on the picket line as e fight for the future of the University of Dundee. Who’s University. Our University.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Worrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
No surrender until the University of Dundee rule out making colleagues compulsory redundant. Donate to our campaign as we seek crowdfund support for a Judicial Review of the governance decisions that led the University Court to approve staff and programme cuts www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/judicial-r...
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The RNLI has said the abuse of volunteers in Portsmouth has forced it to close the lifeboat station there and stop operating since September 10. Nearby stations have been providing cover to the area instead. One of the UK's largest coastal cities without a lifeboat because of the far-right.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
nick-allen-poet.bsky.social @nick-allen-poet.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Successive governments and senior management behaving like education is a business have run HE into the ground and now they want to prevent workers defending what little they have left: for shame. Solidarity with Brighton Uni staff & unions.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thank you to the #TUC26 President Steve Gillan for such a clear expression of solidarity with Brighton UCU from the chair of conference and especially for asking that delegates who are able show their support for the demo. @ucu.org.uk delegates are on our way 🪧🪧🪧
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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This is completely unhinged decision by senior managers at the University of Brighton but says everything about the collapse of our sector. I hope everyone at #TUC26 steps up and turns out at 1.15 today
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 14/09/2026
UCU members at Brighton University face the threat of derecognition. We have called an emergency rally tomorrow at 1:15pm. It would be amazing to see as many #TUC26 delegates as possible in attendance. 58-67 Grand Parade, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 0JY
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Alison Tomlin @alisontomlin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Am very saddened by this news. Many years ago Megan loaned us some ultrasonic equipment to help solve an experimental problem we were struggling with. We shared some snowy UCU rallies. To transition at the peak of an academic career is very a brave thing. A unique person lost from the University.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We are devastated by the loss of Professor Megan Povey, our much loved and respected comrade, friend, activist, former branch President, NEC member, negotiator, long serving committee member. She dedicated her life to social justice alongside a truly impressive science career. We remember her here:
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
ProPublica @propublica.org · 09/09/2026
NEW: Our analysis found that from 2020 to 2025, the rate of deaths involving ectopic pregnancies nearly doubled compared with the previous six-year period. The uptick was steeper in states with abortion bans.
propublica.org
Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in States With Abortion Bans.
With prompt and appropriate medical care, experts say, people shouldn’t die from an ectopic pregnancy. Women in Texas and Oklahoma have sued over delays in care, which, coupled with our new analysis, ...
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 08/09/2026
Zohran Mamdani released 170K documents revealing that post-9/11 asbestos levels remained dangerous for months, despite officials saying the air was safe. As we saw at the start of COVID, officials still treat essential workers as expendable. This is a long-overdue step in the right direction.
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Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Supporters of the University of Dundee, join us at 12:30 at Bonar Hall, Nethergate.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Leonie V. Hicks @lvhicks.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Just in case you've lost the link to donate to the RNLI rnli.org. The sea does not discriminate, neither does the RNLI and nor should we.
rnli.org
RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - Saving Lives at Sea
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. We do this through lifeboat search and rescue, lifeguards, water safety education and international interventions.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Join the rally to rule out compulsory redundancies at the University of Dundee. Tuesday 8th September 12:30pm Bonar Hall, Nethergate, Dundee. The cuts are not justified and will harm to the city and region. All welcome!
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Democratic Left Scotland @demleftscotland.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Defending higher education jobs: www.democratic-left.scot/post/what-fu... / @ucuscotland.bsky.social @ducuuo.bsky.social @sheffielducu.bsky.social @ducu.bsky.social @vickyblake.bsky.social @ucuglasgow.bsky.social @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social @ucustandrews.bsky.social @ucuaberdeen.bsky.social
democratic-left.scot
What future for the University of Dundee?
Stuart Fairweather sets the latest developments at the University of Dundee in wider context.The end of August saw the publication of a Scottish Government / Universities Scotland report authored by Professor Anton Muscatelli. The Future Framework for Universities is a serious attempt to outline the pressures on - and possibilities for - Scotland’s higher education institutions.The report, the first ‘pillar’ of ongoing work, focusses on diagnosing the financial issues impacting universities. Fur
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Many more people in universities will lose their jobs if nothing changes in the way HE is (under) funded. Even more prospective students will not be able to go to university, especially here in the Norheast. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social @markfergusonmp.bsky.social @chionwurah.bsky.social
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
If you’re at #Tolpuddle pop along to our #UCU stall where we are playing Workload Bingo, talking about issues that matter to members, and how we can work and organise across sectors + unions. Bags, caps, beanies & lanyards in return for suggested donations to the fighting fund tinyurl.com/UCUfund
Head on view of UCU stall in white gazebo, with table at the front and back covered in union “merch” (mostly tote bags and posters), with bunting made of tote bags with different campaign slogans, UCU flags, and UCU baseball caps (pink and white available!). On the right hand side part of the UCU national banner is visible hanging up inside the gazebo. On the front table, left( whiteboard reads “HOW’S YOUR WORKLOAD BING-GOing? - and Workload Bingo posters and UCU joining cards underneath it. View of side of the UCU gazebo stall looking at the UCU national banner which has a pink border, purple background, logo in centre and artwork depicting people standing together with signs and placards  with slogans including “FAIR FUNDING FAIR PAY”, “LOVE OUR COLLEGES”, “EQUALITY THROUGH EDUCATION AND STRUGGLE”. The motto at the bottom is “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”.Another view of the UCU gazebo with lots of lanyards hanging up in the foreground - LGBT+, Palestine solidarity, Build the Union logos
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
OOOOO. Exeter's got Nous in as well... Of course... (@exeterucu.bsky.social, have you FOIed how much they're paid?) Can we PLEASE put an end to the involvement of these consultancies? They have done nothing but vandalism.
nousdatainsights.com
A best practice approach to academic restructure at Exeter
Explore Part 2 of Exeter Uni's major transformation case study. Learn how collaboration & strategic alignment drove restructure.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I've not been here much recently but popping back to ask if anyone can spare a donation for or share a friend's crowdfunder for urgently needed medical care complicated by #EhlersDanlos. She's been housebound for months & really struggling to access care she needs www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/9lxXdpEl
crowdfunder.co.uk
Medical treatment
I need to raise money to pay for private physio therapy and to get me to turkey to decompress my spine and fuse my pelvis.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Michael Carley @drmcarley.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Enjoying the opening session of #NEONsymposium2026 with the upbeat chairing of NEON’s director Martin Webster. NEON doesn’t seem to be on Bluesky / #EduSky, but perhaps others attending are? (Think NEON focus more on LinkedIn etc now)
Slightly dingy photo of Martin Webster at the lecturn in a darkened lecture hall underneath a bright projector slide introducing Professor Chris Millward, interim director of Fair Access and Participation, Office for Students. Slide has NEON HE branding.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Disability Rights UK @disrightsuk.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
🚨DR UK's Statement on the EHRC's New Code of Practice "We are appalled at implications that an adequate workaround is trans people using Disabled toilets instead. We will not be used as a loophole in the wider erosion of trans rights." Full statement👇 www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/disabil...
Disability Rights UK’s Statement on the EHRC’s New Code of Practice
As the makers of the original RADAR key and custodian of the National Key Scheme, Disability Rights UK issues our unequivocal solidarity with trans people, who should not be forced to choose between risking harassment in public facilities – or not using them at all. 
Image of Disability Rights UK logo in a purple box.
We are appalled at implications from the Code that an adequate workaround is trans people using Disabled toilets instead. It is a vain attempt to get two marginalised groups to blame one another for our lack of facilities, when the blame lies firmly at the feet of policymakers. We will not fall for it. We will not be used as a ‘loophole’ in the wider erosion of trans rights.  
Image of Disability Rights UK logo in a purple box.
Our RADAR key scheme began in 1981, rooted in the understanding that accessible facilities can be the difference between living the lives we deserve – socialising, travelling and working – and complete social exclusion.  

Our community knows how it feels to be scapegoated simply for trying to access the necessities we need to live. Trans rights do not come at the expense of Disabled, nor anyone else’s.
Image of Disability Rights UK logo in a purple box.
As is clear from this Code of Practice, it sets a dangerous precedent for the erosion of other protected characteristics. If the Equality Act can be up for debate in this arena, who is to say this will not be the case when it comes to disability in the near future? 

As a result, the Disabled-led movement must make a clear stand against this ruling, not to mention because 52% of trans people are Disabled themselves.  
Image of Disability Rights UK logo in a purple box.
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Esther @elhopkins.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Everyone has the right to protect themselves by wearing a respirator. We need safer concerts. Thank you to @mudlarklives.bsky.social for his account.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
2,700 letters sent last month warning staff that they are at risk of redundancy, with Nottingham senior management's goal to shed 608 academic posts, following the 350 professional services staff lost last year. 1/3
timeshighereducation.com
‘Careers are going up in flames’: inside Nottingham’s cuts crisis
With hundreds of jobs on the line and dozens of courses at risk, staff living through one of the biggest university restructuring projects of recent years fear they are shouldering the blame for wider...
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
🧵 Public science in the US has taken some heavy hits over the last year, but the White House OMB is proposing a series of changes that will result in a TKO for science as we know it unless we fight back. Here's what's happening, and why it matters. 1/n
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Reposted by Vicky Blake UCU (she/her)
UCU Solidarity Movement @ucu-solidarity.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗘 Guest Speakers: * Lopa Leach, President, University of Nottingham UCU * Tom Hickey, Convention for Higher Education 2016-17 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝟲𝗽𝗺 Zoom: bit.ly/UCUSM_org Build Solidarity with MABbing Branches Build a Grassroots Political Campaign to Save HE
Demonstration at the University of Nottingham over redundancies called by UoN UCU!
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Carsten Timmermann @ctimmermann.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'm looking for colleagues in the UK, #HistSTM, #HistMed, or #STS who work in institutional settings where they find it is difficult to place them in the right Unit of Assessment for REF2029. DM if that's you?
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Ben Bowsher @benbowsher.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
As the crowdfunder for the first radical bookshop icon Newcastle for 40 years gets closer to the end I’m making the bold move of calling on all the academics I sort of vaguely know and also those I don’t to share the link for our crowdfunder: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/booksfromb...
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UCU Ulster @ucu-ulster.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
@ulsteruni.bsky.social - Announces intention to make 450 colleagues redundant University decimated 🤬😡 @caoimhearchibald.bsky.social @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
"This pattern raises serious concerns that certain market participants may have had access to material nonpublic information regarding a market-moving geopolitical event..." www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...
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Esther @elhopkins.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Throughout the last five years, if you ever want to check the truth of a situation- follow the money. The insurance companies haven’t glossed over either COVID or Climate change.
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Tim McLellan @timmclellan.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Australian federal and state senate inquiries have generated some useful resources on Nous, including details of how much unis pay for UniForum (and how little they understand it), and some largely underacted copies of a small number of reports Nous prepared for ANU: www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Queen's in Canada has done some of the resource-gathering about Nous: qcaa.ca/resources/no... But yes, we need a list. Because Nous itself has become *very* evasive in whom they're selling their nonsense to, no longer naming even when using 'testimonies' in casestudies: nousgroup.com/case-studies
qcaa.ca
Nous Group and UniForum
Resource List ResourceDescriptionExcerptDeb Verhoeven and Ben Eltham. “Nousferatu”: Are corporate consultants extracting the lifeblood from universities?Analysis of the ‘vampiric’ tende…
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Esther @elhopkins.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Any takers? #Journalists
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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
🧵 Thoughtful blog post by someone with #LongCovid & #MEcfs. Initially focuses on describing the PEM effects of working 3 days in a row before discussing how the whole illness(es) & the effect it's having on his life is making him feel emotionally centerleftstack.substack.com/p/the-debt-c... #PEM 1/
The Debt Came Due
Notes From a Crash
Fred Rossi
Mar 30, 2026
There is a version of my life that exists in my memory like a photograph from a trip I’ll never take again. In that version, I wake up and get out of bed without negotiating with my body first. I drive to work. I talk to people. I solve problems. I go home. I am tired in the way ordinary people are tired, the kind of tired that a night’s sleep fixes.

That life is gone.

What replaced it has a name. Long COVID. ME/CFS. Post-exertional malaise. The clinical language is clean and distant, which is probably why it fails so completely to describe what it actually feels like to live inside this body right now.

Here is what it feels like: I am in a crash.

What a Crash Is

People who don’t have this illness hear the word “crash” and picture something dramatic. A sudden collapse. A trip to the emergency room. Sirens.

A crash is not that. A crash is slower and more total.

Post-exertional malaise is the medical term for what happens when someone with ME/CFS or Long COVID exceeds their energy envelope. The body doesn’t just get tired. It breaks down. It stops regulating itself. And unlike ordinary fatigue, which responds to rest, PEM doesn’t resolve with sleep. It compounds. Every small expenditure of energy, whether physical, cognitive, or emotional, costs more than it would in a healthy person, and the debt accumulates in a way that rest can only partially address.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
A lovely thing: I found a small bottle of Mum’s long discontinued perfume from when she was a young woman into the 90s, in good condition on eBay. Gave it to her today and she sniffed it on her wrists with a gorgeous smile and said “it’s me”. Looking for the bright spots where we can really helps.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The Certification Officer has issued his decision in Blake & McGaughey v UCU. My initial response is here: vickyblakeucu.uk/2026/03/31/t... I urge members to read the full ruling rather than relying on the summary emailed to all members by HQ today. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69cbcb...
vickyblakeucu.uk
The Certification Officer’s ruling: Blake & McGaughey v UCU
The Certification Officer has now issued his decision in Blake and McGaughey v UCU. One complaint was upheld in part as a technical breach. The rest were dismissed, and no rerun or further remedy w…
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HWUCU @hwucu.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
So, a dinosaur, a chicken, and a bee walked into a picket line.... Don't actually have a punchline but they were Bee-ing a good colleague Saving jobs from extinction Calling out foul play
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HWUCU @hwucu.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Some of our lovely creative signs in support of LINCS, languages & cultural studies, opposing cuts and highlighting that the number of management staff paid over £100,000 has increased, again. #loveLINCS
A collage: top left " no compulsory redundancies. Keine Zwang-sentlassungen" Love LINCS.
Middle left: "Stop cuts to cultural studies, we don't need no philistines, all in all your just another brick in the wall" "students support the strikes"
Bottom left "Don't Shrink Lincs"
Bottom right: cats against compulsory redundancies "save German & Chinese, no cuts" top rightness £100,00 (mis)management hires but no money for your future, I am no maths student but something does not add up" save lincs
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Kerstin Pfeiffer @kerstinpfeiffer.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
A drawing of a bee, a dinosaur and an angry chicken holding a sign saying „United against compulsory redundancies!“
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Esther @elhopkins.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Why is it so seismic for the Covid inquiry to state this week that ‘Covid is airborne’? 1. It means that we never had the correct advice to protect ourselves and still don’t! Covid hasn’t stopped being airborne. 2. It means so much could have been prevented. 3. It means healthcare has been …
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Patrick Bigger @pmbigger.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
In what should be a surprise to no one, the US and Israeli attack on Iran has serious climate consequences. Our new analysis, covered in @theguardian.com this morning, tallies the climate costs of the first two weeks of the attacks.
theguardian.com
US and Israel’s war on Iran is a disaster for the environment, analysis shows
Exclusive: War has led to 5m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in two weeks and is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
At the beautiful Pitman’s Parliament (@redhillsdurham.bsky.social) in Durham for the North East, Yorkshire & Humber TUC AGM this weekend representing @ucu.org.uk with colleagues from our region. Got here early to take some pics before we got started - conference is now underway …
Photo of the front of the Durham Miners’ Hall, home to the chamber known as the Pitman’s Parliament. It’s a beautiful red brick and stone building with a green cupola / dome on part of the roof in the centre. There is a blossom tree on the left in the foreground coming into flower and the sky behind the building is blue with no more than a bit of a hint of cloud in the distance Inside the Pitman’s Parliament- rows of not quite horseshoe / curved wooden pews on a graduates floor, with a balcony / gallery visible at the back (photo is taken from the side of the stage with the edge of the stage partially visible in the left of the foreground. The light is coming in through paned windows with stained glass inserts.
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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I’d really love to know how the decisions to remove references in public health information to the possibility of airborne transmission of a disease like meningitis are made, and accounted for, especially when there is an outbreak. H/t @peteuk7.bsky.social who posted these on X/twitter:
2 screenshots of tweets from @PeteUK7 #COVIDisAirborne with side by side screen shots showing deletion of reference to aerosol transmission of meningitis. 

First tweet text reads: 
There are a few ways to remove aerosols.
Ventilation & air filtration are good ways.
However, the favoured way by Public Health appears to be just to delete them.
Compare what this page said when crawled in Dec 2025 to what it says today.
7th Dec 2025 pictured.
1/
Picture in first tweet screenshot from HSC has “sneezing (aerosol or droplet spread)” highlighted in yellow, whole thing reads:
Public Health Agency
Protection 1 Meningococcal disease
Meningococcal disease is caused by the type of bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis (also known as meningococcus). This bacteria can live in the nose and throat of healthy people without causing iliness.
It spreads through:
• Coughing and sneezing (aerosol or droplet spread)
• Close contact (such us kissing or sharing a drink)
At any time, up to 1 in 10 adults may carry the bacteria without knowing it or feeling sick.Second tweet text reads: 
Boom! and the aerosols are gone.
Current page pictured below:
Text on the pictures screenshot reads without reference to aerosol: 

Public Health Agency
Meningococcal disease
Meningococcal disease is caused by the type of bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis (also known as meningococcus). This bacteria can live in the nose and throat of healthy people without causing illness. Meningococcal infection doesn't spread very easily.
The bacteria can only be passed to others after a long period of close contact, for example with living with someone in shared accommodation, through prolonged kissing or sharing vapes.
While meningococcal disease can affect all ages, recent outbreaks have shown that older children, teenagers and young adults, particularly those in shared settings such as schools, colleges and universities, are more likely to be affected.
There are five main groups of meningococcal bacteria that can cause meningitis and septicaemia - A, B, C, W and Y.
In Northern Ireland, young babies receive the Men B vaccine as part of the childhcod immunisation programme. The MenACWY vaccine helps protect young people against four different causes of meningitis and septicaemia: meningococcal groups A, C, W and Y disease. You only need one dose of the vaccine, it is given as a single injection in the upper arm, Pupils in year 11 are automatically offered the vaccine in school by the school health team, with a second chance to have it again in year 12, if they missed out the first time.
If you're aged 25 or under, at university for the first time and haven't yet had the MenACY vaccination, you should ask your GP for the vaccine.
If your child has missed a vaccination, please contact your GP practice to book an appointment as soon as you can to make sure they have maximum protection against disease.
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