Recent posts by UK Constitutional Lawyers on Bluesky

A thread on Reform’s constitution, including how to get rid of its leader, which I don’t think has been reported anywhere

Jews can’t live peacefully in their homes, they can’t go to a music festival and they can’t congregate openly on a beach in Australia and there are still people out there who will say these massacres and attacks are justified. Or just as bad, stay silent when it happens. Call it out for what it is

Ahmed al Ahmed is my new hero

Extraordinary moment hero creeps up behind deranged Bondi Beach gunman and disarms him as TWELVE are killed www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

"Americans, especially those in positions of power, must find the courage to stand up for what is right, even when doing so carries personal risk." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Your outie is smart and good”

Zelenskyy and the Europeans have started their meeting with the US Carve Up Ukraine For Cash team of Witkoff and Kushner in Berlin.

When there were big, horrifying terrorist attacks a decade ago - Bataclan, Charlie Hebdo, the Manchester Arena Bombing - we had more time to process the shock and grieve without having to immediately deal with far right ghouls seizing it to push the same tired old themes. Now it seems we don't

Gather round, oh children, as I tell you of a time long ago.

There Are Still Faint Glimmers Of Civilization Left In This Barbaric Slaughterhouse That Was Once Known As Humanity.

Much of my campaigning- whether for paid parental leave, safe abortion access, PFI reform, childcare costs, tackling violence against women, high cost credit reform, Europe and more- is powered by caffeine. My crowdfunder helps pay for my team to support even more of this work. gofund.me/fb0247b0a

I hate this story so much. She’s allowed not to see her dad. Moralising about how she’s a bitch is horrible www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family...

There's still time for Snow at Christmas 3dartmaps.etsy.com

I, personally, would not post this after a terrorist attack that caused the death of (at least) 10 people.

'Bloody immigrants, coming over 'ere, being heroes, saving people's lives [said in a sneery, whiny voice].... bloody immigrants.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cge...

Extracting value from my Ashes related TNT subscription.

In the midst of the horror, the cruel cowardice of the killers of innocents celebrating Hannukah at Bondi, there is heroism #AhmedElAhmed #HeroOfBondi

Sir Tom Stoppard fled Czechoslovakia when he was not yet two years old. He liked to say that by eight he “put on Englishness like a coat”, writes @katemaltby.bsky.social.

Christmas presents challenge: COMPLETE. (These are being sent off to Italy tomorrow so I don't have to drag them through airports on Christmas Eve.)

Shabana Mahmood, asked by Laura K about leadership speculation docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Really enjoyed this exchange between @harrytlambert.bsky.social and @iandunt.bsky.social. Includes whether Liberalism sits easily with democracy e.g. when the public is tilting towards positions, as now, that Liberals disapprove of. substack.com/@harrytlambe...

I suppose you can do away with universities completely if no-one uses Real Intelligence.

West Ham v Aston Villa is currently live on Sky Sports Tennis

A notoriously prickly and defensive colleague.

that’s more like it

Courage comes in many forms. The bystander at Bondi beach is one example. This piece recounts an extraordinary different kind, where by having a conversation and listening, Nathan Newby talked Mohammad Farooq down from setting off a bomb. Recommend www.ft.com/content/cd59...

A special episode of Unholy is now up open.spotify.com/episode/075n...

A special update of Unholy is now up open.spotify.com/episode/075n...

“Coverage of Premier League on Sky Sports sponsored by the British Army.” I understand the need to have an Army recruitment campaign but money from tax revenues going to Murdoch like this sticks in the craw.

Folk, jist dinnae #RacistsGetTae #GieRacismTheBoot #AllJockTamsonsBairns

4 MCU film Actors, 2 MCU television actors, 1 Marvel fox universe actor and an actor who was a stuntman on Deadpool-Wolverine, by my count

Really interesting counterpoint 🧵 from a doctor on the strikes. Please read. A x bsky.app/profile/bigf...

Doesn’t bode well for the December retail sales figures but I’m in a large shopping centre, it is 11 days until Christmas and this is not a hellish experience.

Ahmed al Ahmed, a Lebanese Muslim who owns a Sydney fruit shop, risked his life to disarm one of the Bondi Beach shooters. His courage gives me hope amidst the horror and darkness. Muslims and Jews are not enemies. Our futures, in the Middle East and beyond, are intrinsically bound. A true hero.

Such a horrific event - so awful for Sydney's Jewish community and Jewish communities everywhere

See also: #HunterStreet #Hawkhill, #Dundee Lines are marked intermittently with painted bricks, Angles are JUST WRONG Nightmare to park in But very conveniently placed #Carparks

This week's column, on the chutzpah of MTG as.ft.com/r/c628b275-6... (gift link!🎄🎁)

Our Paris correspondent @sophiepedder.bsky.social alerted me to this viral French Christmas supermarket ad and now I’m choked up. youtu.be/iLERt5ZkpQ4

There can’t be a more horrific insight into the sickness of the US’s gun crime epidemic than the fact two survivors of Brown University had already survived school shootings. One was shot in the abdomen in 2016, while her best friend died. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

subscribe to Marie!!!

Answered this one before, no lowering of environmental protections in the UK-EU TCA is extremely unlikely to be triggered in the event of changed UK planning laws.

Watched the new Knives Out last night and honestly its all a bit unbelievable isn’t it? That many Marvel actors in one small village, just unlikely tbh

I think this story might have been spiced up a bit. Katherine Howard is one of Britain's top planning lawyers; anyone asking her "informally" to stay on indefinitely after a four month secondment was obviously kidding themselves.

Happy birthday to Jane Austen, and to this very on-brand Economist chart www.economist.com/christmas-sp...

If you’re in the UK and were born between 1970-1990 you can just go to your GP and get revaccinated for MMR because you may have had single vaccines, which are no longer considered valid. I went & did it this summer. Easy way to help protect yourself & your community.

Should repeal the Roman Catholic Relief Acts to fuck this guy in particular.v

On what should be a day of joy and light for Jewish communities around the world, I am appalled by the scenes from Bondi today. My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families affected.

I realise I have shared this a lot already this week, but I don't do much of my own writing at the moment so: here's my column this week from @time.com: Europe has lost Trump's ear on Ukraine time.com/7339777/euro...

Person of Interest detained in connection to the Brown shooting. Shelter in Place order has been lifted.

Ultimately a smart move from Zelenskyy. Gets to pitch it as a concession to Trump while changing little in the long-term as NATO will remain an open-door institution. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

12 dead at the start of Hanukah - this is an ancient hatred, alive and well in the world today. Sending love to everyone who celebrates Hanukkah, and especially to those in Sydney mourning these horrible deaths. May their memories be a blessing.

Apparently I'm immature

OMG COME JOIN US WE JUST OPENED PAWHAMMER! twitch.tv/gariusthebrit

Senedd Nowcast: ➡️ RFM: 31 Seats, 28.4% 🌼 PLC: 33 Seats, 27.2% 🌹 LAB: 20 Seats, 18.5% 🌳 CON: 9 Seats, 11.4% 🌍 GRN: 2 Seats, 6.7% 🔶 LDM: 1 Seat, 5.2% electionmaps.uk/nowcast/senedd

I do think that if the main public health message from the authorities to the population is get the flu vaccine then the flu vaccine should be free and readily available for all. That’s not the case at the moment.

Is it called Evri because you're waiting in every day for it to arrive?

Mary-Ann Stephenson, EHRC Chair, interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg [from 35:00]: #trans www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Interesting summary of the "Palmoli affair" in Italy - a look at "the political utility of moral panic." translatormag.substack.com/p/dispatch-4...

Yes is the answer but we don’t know how yet bit.ly/3L1yiDB this will turn out to be a logistical nightmare, complexifying what was a fairly simple system

My absolute favourite bad line: a rebel commander, relieved that Leia is alive, says something to her like "thank goodness! When we heard Alderan was destroyed, we feared the worst!" Yup, a whole planet was vaporised but at least *the worst* didn't happen....

Anyone spot the tribute to the late, great Victoria Wood? I'll control each family member; Make them gather round the Christmas table; And eat until to move they are unable; They'll wish that Joseph never found that stable; I'll put my sprouts on in November

Principles not only pertinent to infectious diseases and vaccines.

New peer-reviewed paper by me, @sheencr.bsky.social and @martinmckee.bsky.social about effective communication and public engagement around infectious diseases and vaccines. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Trump’s backing splits European far right www.politico.eu/article/dona...

"worldschooling" seems basically to mean "force the kids to like it or lump it"

Two interesting AI stories - first on whether the US going all-in on the tech while China looks at a more diversified view of the future is wise. www.ft.com/content/1258...

Canine festive joy

Watched the original Star Wars for the first time in decades last night. It seems... Smaller? The special effects are still surprisingly good. The dialogue - "I've got a bad feeling about this!"- surprisingly poor. Still easy to imagine it seeming brilliant on first viewing 50 years ago.

Brexit issues for Northern Ireland haven't gone away. Cars and veterinary medicines are two known issues from 1 Jan 2026, but also watch out for EU plans on steel, carbon border adjustment, and de minimis - all of which will have consequences www.thetimes.com/business/eco...

How the US is going after opponents using 'domestic extremist' laws and tax investigations. Similar tactics were used during the civil rights protests in the 1960s. youtube.com/shorts/hmEgD...

45% of people now live in cities. @economist.com argues fast growing Asian megacities often suffer from uncoordinated and overlapping governance and points to Tokyo as a megacity which is able to successfully coordinate governance economist.com/asia/2025/12...

Gold promoting, crypto financed party leader now finds firm he is an ambassador for is being threatened with bankruptcy by @HMRCgovuk over unpaid taxes bit.ly/4abxaaL gold firm says problem was due to an ‘in correct digit’

It’s Second Sunday of the month. Shortly, just off Trafalgar Square, I’ll be running Captain Dan’s laundry for homeless and/or destitute asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. I’ll probably annoy all the right people

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 This is an unbelievably stupid take

Wishing everyone in Tooting and beyond Hanukkah Sameach! May your celebrations be filled with light, warmth and joy.

At the moment European institutional disintegration is more likely as mainstream political leaders fail to find the paths and explanations out of decline, and populist nationalists have seductive words that will exacerbate the problems.

This ludicrous Telegraph piece calls the bonus Labour’s bit.ly/4j2gEwg it was introduced in 1972 by Edward Heath (Conservative) and was worth far more than a week’s pension which was £6.75. It has never been cancelled by any govt (Conservative or Labour) or uprated.

America is a gun @brianbilston.bsky.social beniciaindependent.com/america-is-a...

The ‘great feminisation’ narrative—the idea that the increased presence of women in high-status jobs will destroy our institutions—could sadly be on its way to the UK, writes @polphilpod.bsky.social.

If your parcel is stolen or never arrives that’s retailer’s responsibility not delivery company’s and it must refund you bit.ly/48BqNwa never nominate safe place or neighbour - that moves responsibility away from retailer. What’s your experience of missing parcels?

Thought-provoking piece: “When violence against women and girls is reduced to racist social media erotica and invented AI threats, we have no chance of dealing with either..”

I’m watching The Holiday and it is precisely as awful as I’ve repeatedly been warned yet somehow it’s still on

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...

'Founded in 1878 by the City of London and a group of 16 livery companies, the original institute developed a national system of technical education, offering qualifications and apprenticeships in fields ranging from manufacturing and mechanical engineering to hairdressing and horticulture.' 1/2

Latest in the series of ‘out and about in squalid, crime ridden, Inner London’. The reservoir yesterday afternoon in Stoke Newington.

Latest in the series of ‘out and about in squalid, crime ridden, I Inner London. The reservoir yesterday afternoon in Stoke Newington.

One of the reasons I think we need more fiscal devolution in the UK is as a training ground for politicians to have more interest in both sides of the ledger.

We’re victims of crime not tax evaders, say footballers being pursued for millions in unpaid taxes and penalties on avoidance schemes that didn’t work promoted by criminals bit.ly/44XngpC should they be let off?

Close reading of Stephen Armstrong in the Observer makes clear there is only one media ownership story but it is everywhere: who is RedBird trying to impress? observer.co.uk/news/busines..., observer.co.uk/news/profile...

Awful news coming out of Australia. Ten people dead including one shooter at Bondi Beach. At least 12 others injured.

Christmas carols, full of muppets

Someone give me interesting Indie game suggestions

I guess people still haven't learned not to share information which is not 100% verified during a developing situation. Could they stop doing that please? Absolute thoughts with all those affected in Australia right now.

NSW police say ten dead including a gunman in Bondi Beach shooting www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ck...

Genuinely puzzled as to what to Stream today. Don't want to start new CK3 run until post-xmas. It's a Cats Protection fundraiser today and next week so open to ideas!

Thanks to @natashadevon.bsky.social on LBC, I checked Reform’s constitution and it does not say members have to be UK citizens or residents reformuk.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Morning Bluesky.

It was unwise to seek mental health advice from a platform that isn’t regulated to provide it—and is incentivised to keep users online, writes @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social.

As i've said before, the renaissance was just 15th century OnlyFans. Artists discovering rich dudes will pay big bucks for pictures of their favourite Greek god, goddess or bible figure with their bits out.

If you have the DVD, you can watch the making of in which Christopher Lee gets quite snippy while insisting: “It’s not a horror film. It’s a musical thriller.” Personally I’m always up for Sing-Along-a-Wicker Man, and I listened to the soundtrack obsessively as a teenager so I know all the lyrics