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About Simon Parker

Simon Parker teaches politics and urban studies at the University of York. He is a coordinator of the campaign group End Child Detention Now and a co-founder of Refugee Action York.

His most recent book is Cities, Politics and Power (Routledge, 2010).

Articles by Simon Parker

Workfare and the state of exception

Simon Parker 28 March 2013

The retrospective legalisation of workfare has deprived rightful claimants of £130 million. Alongside the lives wrecked in its wake, the ‘emergency’ legislation has exposed a chasm at the heart of Britain's parliamentary democracy.

UK’s persecution of kidney transplant patient Roseline goes on and on

Simon Parker 23 December 2012

Actor Colin Firth condemns Home Secretary's challenge to court judgment allowing transplant patient's right to life.

Pandering to the bigots? An exchange on Ed Miliband, immigration and the nation-state

Simon Parker and Anthony Barnett 21 September 2012

Is Labour justified in speaking to the British people's fears on immigration, or are they legitimising the far right? How far do the English retain their racist attitudes, or is England at ease with its modern multiculturalism? And what is the case for secure borders in a world where the role of the nation-state is under question? In the following exchange, Anthony Barnett of OurKingdom and Simon Parker of Refugee Action York cut to the heart of the immigration question. 

Child detention goes on and on in the UK

Simon Parker 25 November 2011
Most children detained in the new “I can’t believe it’s not detention” facilities are held for more than 72 hours.

Hard-hitting play on asylum system is a favourite of the Edinburgh Fringe

Simon Parker 23 August 2011
Simon Parker, Coordinator End Child Detention Now, reports from Edinburgh on Catherine O’Shea’s chilling take on the UK asylum system

The UK continues to detain children, a year after the Coalition's pledge to end it

Simon Parker 11 May 2011

A year ago, the Coalition pledged to end the practice of child detention in the UK. Yet the real agenda of the UK Border Agency has not changed. The detention and enforced removal of children remains a key aspect of immigration control. Can the government be pressured into honouring their promise?

An end to child detention?: how a High Court judgement brings us closer

Simon Parker 13 January 2011
In a landmark judgment on child detention at Yarl’s Wood, Judge Wyn Williams found that the UK Border Agency failed to uphold its own rules and breached claimants’ rights to freedom, privacy and family life. The coalition government’s plans to continue detaining children until May now look to be in ruins.

On Her Majesty’s Deceitful Service: The Woolas Case and the Ignoble Lies of the British State

Simon Parker 16 November 2010
The legal declaration that Phil Woolas knowingly lied and his election was void has reignited a debate on politics as a black art. Now it seems the dark spirit is animating government and official statements are not to be believed either.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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