Katie Barclay

Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland @ssnci.bsky.social [ View ] Mar 01, 2024 at 20:18 UTC

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 31 MARCH - for our 2024 Annual Conference New York 28-30 June - “Time in Nineteenth-Century Ireland”

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 18:07 UTC

There is policy around this for the MoD that’s publicly available, and they explain the reasons for the credit checks when they do it for public service. It’s not that secretive a process. I also know a few people with convictions that were permitted onto highly secure sites after a MoD check.

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 14:47 UTC

And you can pass those checks with convictions as long as they don’t suggest you’re a traitor, part of a criminal network that would exploit the information, or in debt (so easily bribed). Sex offences wouldn’t be a particular issue here.

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 14:36 UTC

Do you think the men who harass women in the offices at parliament have criminal records? Do you know how hard it is to get a conviction of that sort? Plus those ‘young staff’ would not be protected in this situation because they are not considered legally vulnerable and so no criminal checks needed

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 14:28 UTC

As I noted, currently MPs don’t have access to vulnerable groups without staff present. And that happens regardless as most orgs won’t accept a police check they weren’t involved in organising, as they have ultimate liability. This isn’t a real problem.

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 13:52 UTC

That’s why this shouldn’t happen. This doesn’t mean MPs should have access to children/vulnerable without checks - and in practice that is what happens now. When MPs go into schools or similar, they’re always accompanied by a staff member. And this is as effective as removing a political right.

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 13:49 UTC

There is a bigger principle here where a criminal conviction is ultimately also a political decision. Excluding people with criminal convictions from parliament limits possibility of political reform (consider homosexuality as an example here).

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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 14, 2024 at 21:38 UTC

But do we set P&P as reading very much? Many articles are long; they often are a joy to read but sort of unroll, rather than have strong structure to guide interpretation. I wonder if they ultimately become the historian’s pleasure, rather than something we use in the classroom.

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