Recent posts by UK Constitutional Lawyers on Bluesky

See also Reading, which has higher GDP per person than Oxford and Cambridge, and Swindon, which has similar

What would you have smuggled into prison? I would ask for mangoes rather than a Rolex

ah, the great British spring. Yesterday at this time: 25 degrees in the garden, back door open, sun pouring in. This morning: not even half that temperature, vaguely considering putting the heating on for a bit.

Delighted to be giving my first public lecture as a Visiting Professor of Law at City St George’s, University of London on 21st May. Link for registration👇 www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Yes, but what to do? Seriously. One man is effectively holding the world economy to the ransom of however his demented mind works. I struggle to think of any reasonable historical parallel. And he has built a governing system to insulate himself from pressures.

This short article by @cobrien.bsky.social about writing and why we do it is excellent. I really needed it. Maybe you do too. nilq.qub.ac.uk/index.php/ni...

My confidence in the ICO is already at rock-bottom, so God knows what's going on here.

He's back. RTE Washington correspondent, Sean Whelan returns to old stomping ground in London, RTE has just announced. Welcome back Sean!

Millions of renters are being pushed to the brink by a housing market that simply isn’t working for them, and without action, things will get worse. Rent caps could rebalance the market, protect households, and ensure affordability. More on this soon 👀

Without downloading anything new, where are you mentally

Nonetheless, I think the morning's hearings are shaping up to be damply squibbish.

Very good point - and an excellent article on economic warfare in @duncanweldon.bsky.social 's next post.

With devolved and local elections fast approaching, it's worth refreshing yourself on the different electoral systems across the UK - How they work, and what effects they have: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/el...

Banning social media for under 16s is fucking insane, for so many reasons, not the least of which is that kids have to learn to navigate digital spaces, and they will find ways into digital spaces whether you ban them or not.

"A key question... is whether [the UK] can afford to conduct trade defence policy alone, absorbing the costs without the benefit of collective action." ✍️ Jun Du and Oleksandr Shepotylo argue that the UK should seek to coordinate its trade defence policy with the EU. ukandeu.ac.uk/what-steel-t...

I'm not sure any travel websites allow for the entry of more than one passport which might reflect some rather dated underlying systems - see also that airports are still using dot-matrix printers with continuous paper that are about 30 years out of date...

Jim Moir—or as you might know him, the surrealist comedian Vic Reeves, darling of 1990s TV— has launched an exhibition of his artworks. David Barnett met him in situ

Missed this fun choose-your-own-adventure/ build-a-UK-voter dataviz when it came out. www.economist.com/interactive/...

If getting elected requires gerrymandering the electoral districts you are no longer a democracy but an authoritarian state masquerading as a democracy. No one is taken in

If getting elected requires changing gerrymandering the electoral districts you are no longer a democracy but an authoritarian state masquerading as a democracy. No one is taken in.

London has kept its economic place relative to Europe, unlike other UK regions cepr.org/voxeu/column...

I feel like making this about process rather than the moral and political failure of appointing Mandelson was always going to lead to Mr Process being cleared

I’ve little doubt that two more months of closure would do lasting damage to the Iranian economy. I’ve even less doubt it would do awful damage to the wider global economy. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/u...

The House of Commons sits from 11.30am today. The #OrderPaper is published each sitting day and lists the business of the House.

I liked this piece as a clever way to explore the incoherence of right populist policies - though worth noting that may be part of their appeal to people who don't think much about politics

Credit to my dad for suggesting this topic ❤️ time to break out the Richard Ellmann again www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

@stephenkb.bsky.social is of course correct on this. it's the most tiresome form of 'bring back XYZ' bullshit, right up there with '11-year-olds should be learning Latin because reasons' as.ft.com/r/3be60d3d-e...

No it’s not true at all. Again beware the internet and political opponents … I told aviva to give a donation to our local homeless nightshelter for me coming to speak at their conference.

Nothing earth-shattering from Sir Philip Barton so far.

EVENT | Local and devolved elections 2026: Who won, who lost and what next? 📆Friday 08 May 2026, 16:00-17:00 Join us online to reflect on the local and devolved election results, including the implications on local government reorganisation and devolution plans.

My low stakes conspiracy theory is that the push for cohabitation reform is adopted by some lawyers as a cynical way of ensuring more litigation as marriage rates decline.

This is fascinating about a part of the electorate that is too often ignored by our political parties.

Why does the law law www.thetimes.com/article/8aee...

as.ft.com/r/c460fa4e-9...

LOUDER FOR THE GREEN VOTERS AT THE BACK

If I was in government I’d make geography harder so fewer kids picked it for gcse over history (Ok, bye) as.ft.com/r/b2c04eb1-7... The real lesson of Reform’s war on the history curriculum

You love to see it. And still burning. #explodey

Daphne has your best interests at heart and has cancelled Tuesday

The jury has been decided and the social media posts have been messy - but what is at stake in the trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman this week? My latest for @the-independent.com www.the-independent.com/tech/elon-mu...

From the archive, 8 years ago: #Top10 People Whose Names Are Palindromes independent.co.uk/voices/top-1...

The Labour movement has always fought to accommodate universalist liberalism with worker solidarity. We have a problem when those in charge have universal liberal instincts but try to carry out worker solidarity policies and end up making a hash of everything.

BP’s having another huge earnings season, profiting from the havoc caused by Trump’s war against Iran. What is a dire threat to UK growth and living standards is a bumper pay day for energy companies.

In today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm scrabbling around on the pavement with feather expert, @andy6day.bsky.social. #countrydiary #naturewriting

I'm today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm scrabbling around on the pavement with feather expert, @andy6day.bsky.social. #countrydiary #naturewriting

BP’s profits have more than doubled because of the Iran War. Time for a windfall tax.

Morning Bluesky.

Non-political point but I think there is read-across - have had good response to this post here and X, almost everyone saying the reason is people priced out of top flight football. Comforting, simple, not correct. Because crowds are strong at ALL levels of football.

OH very tickled by the BBC headline there 'what does King Charles do...'

1/ So angry. First, this is what "elections have consequences" really looks like. In addition to big stuff like wars and Liberation Day tariffs, the whole vast US machinery of state is now working everywhere, on everything, to make the world worse in every way. Thanks guys.

The genius that is Banksy completely nailed it here

The wording of Kemi Badenoch’s motion commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/104...

An underpriced outcome among a lot of market and political analysis is a scenario where the US and Iranian sides each remain convinced that they have the upper hand and refuse to budge enough in a way that leads to months of stalemate punctuated by flashes of devastating violence

V interesting read on Iranian politics. www.ft.com/content/53a4... Iran’s hardliners clash over talks with US

This Athens street cat we met cared not for our chicanery.

'Last month, Tao teamed up with Tanya Klowden, an art historian at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, to explore the implications of AI for researchers and the world at large. They took mathematics as a test case, and urge society to adopt the technology but in a human-centric way.' 1/2

A study by Ukraine's military ombudsman found that soldiers deployed for over 40 days on front-line positions develop apathy and "stop caring whether they survive or not," kyivindependent.com/after-40-day...

BONUS EPISODE 💥 Naomi and CEO of Humanists UK Andrew Copson discuss: 🩼 How sabotage not votes ended the Terminally Ill Adults Bill ⚖️ Fresh impetus for Lords reform 🔮 The future of a new Bill 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/7tQa... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q... @andrewcopson.bsky.social

'In a social media post on 27 April, UKRI said that from 2028 to 2029, “funding will focus on fully open-access publishing and will no longer be available for hybrid open access”.' If releasing such major changes on LinkedIn is @ukri.org 's new comms policy, we need to talk about 'open' comms.

For every mum watching this grinding her teeth in sheer exhaustion, we see you and are fighting for you. Flamingos show why the fight for equal parenting matters. Join us Saturday 2nd May in Trafalgar Square at midday to call for paid parental leave for all parents. Share this if you are with us.

High streets become deserts. Meanwhile Amazon pays no tax.

Is it possible to have a productive economy almost entirely based on immensely wealthy people suing each other?

On the other hand they had a wonderful ballroom on The Titanic.

Morning. A good day to repost my evidently most controversial political opinion - that there is in fact a special relationship both ways between the US and UK. Clearly matters more to the UK. But for good and bad, there's also an expectation on the US side.

'If graduates are asked to supervise AI before having learnt the standards of the field, the result may be fluency without competence.' 'This is why the way universities deal with the disruptive force of AI is so essential.'

'Rather than a lack of effort from individual universities, the report identifies a “structural gap” – there is no effective system to coordinate action across a region, leaving institutions to tackle shared problems in isolation.' Well, marketise the system and it will try to work like a market.

'AI will be at the core of some exercises. For example, politics students in a course on voting behaviour will be told to choose an election and ask ChatGPT to explain the results.' 1/3

This would be poorly targeted and reduce supply, especially if interest rates rise. Just give people who need it cash and fund it through efficient taxation. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Not all new technologies last. Brushed nylon sheets, for example.

'Against a backdrop of growing alarm in government about the rise in youth unemployment in the UK, Resolution Foundation said the Neet rate for 18- to 24-year-olds had jumped from 13% in 2019 to 15% in 2025, leaving the UK with 900,000 Neets.'

'The poll, though small with just 326 participants, provides a vivid picture of the problems facing headteachers with crumbling, outdated buildings. One school leader said they lay awake at night worrying about the school fire doors. “I would say around 80% are non-compliant,” they said.'

Today’s @mortenmorland.bsky.social

Astonishing evidence discovered of the last moments of this man’s life as he fled the Pompeii eruption nearly 1,947 years ago bit.ly/4vWe4xM

Hmmm. So maybe all that great, inexplicably free, stuff on the internet such as Google Books, Scholar, Translate and even Search, was part of a long game to harvest data to monetise it in some way that involves ruining the data when they attempt to profit from it?

In case anyone is wondering...

Couples living in unmarried bliss want the same tax rights as married and civil partnered pairs bit.ly/4ucWB2g at the moment they have no rights - none. So the best tax advice is marry the one you love. Or civil partner them if you hate all the marriage baggage. But…

I preferred it when economic activity was boosted by employing one crew to dig holes, and another to fill them in again.

Not-so-Bella, Ciao! htsf.substack.com/p/not-so-bel...

The man who would be Farage’s Chancellor investigated by police over apparently foreign donation to his Conservative leadership campaign bit.ly/4cPTN4d

Trump wants to leave a legacy. We want him to do so sooner rather than later.

Fly on the wall: Ballroom, ballroom, ballroom your Majesty. Renewables, trees, clean air, Mr President. Ballroom, ballroom, oil your Majesty. Endangered species, organic farming, herbal remedies Mr President Ballroom, ballroom, borders your Majesty.

I’m in favour of the ballroom, provided we lock Trump in it, and take away his phone.

New @EmpirePodUK mini-series: Liberator of Latin America or infamous Dictator: Simón Bolívar vs The Spanish Empire

Having worked as a news and current affairs radio and TV journalist for many years, this explanation of the microphone set-up makes me smile. I learned so much from sound engineers over the years. The art of sound.

While Americans still treat the concept of "forever wars" as a historical anomaly, these kinds of conflicts that could stretch out from 15 to 30 years were often a routine occurrence in the history of most empires in the past.

The EU is considering sanctions against Israeli individuals and entities over allegations they helped Russia bypass sanctions by importing wheat taken from occupied areas of Ukraine, Haaretz reports.

"beautifully shaped performances, one after the other, by singers who were obviously so thoroughly inside the idiom as to be able to sing it unrehearsed with complete conviction and accuracy". Pretty stoked at this review of our Tallis-a-thon on Saturday! It was a total joy to be part of this.

Would (still) fill one of the Manchester skyscrapers with different sized fish at each level, one big shark at the top going down to lots of little bioluminescent ones at the bottom. If I was absolutely hellbent on breaking even I’d put a padel court on top

Third read: Rent control is one of the main issues coming up on the doorstep and the Greens are up for it. Don’t think Labour would ever actually go ahead with this, but it’s a remarkable useful time to be “raising” the idea.

“Leavitt out, girl”. As they’d say on Eastenders.

"An animal rights activist sentenced for criminal damage for trying to free a crayfish from a seafood restaurant has said she is the victim of a witch-hunt." Honestly, what an astonishing level of fuckwittage.

This is exaggerated; Ukraine isn’t really capable of “leading” an alliance. But it is branching out its alliances in a way that models the middle-power variable geometry Mark Carney suggested to replace an unreliable America. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/o...

Wealth is more equally distributed in Britain than in Sweden, Germany or the Netherlands – UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 www.ubs.com/global/en/we...

‘Quiet piggy’, ‘Good, I'm glad he's dead’,

Training people so that they can know when they’re being manipulated. What sorts of education and what sorts of research might assist that goal one wonders? Ah yes, doubling down on vocational skills.

"is there anything to be said for another think tank report on the nature of britishness?"

Writing a quiz. Seems timely to have a round of 'Who said it: Trump or Hitler?'

I'm dangerously close to experiencing patriotism

Johnson is the one suffering from a syndrome.

Keep getting my data centres and detention centres mixed up. Unfortunately they look pretty much the same and are both the symptom of a sick society.

Trump is trying his toxic beta-male handshake, and Charles is having absolutely none of it.