Exc - Keir Starmer is preparing an EU reset bill with sweeping powers to align the UK with EU regulation which could go beyond what was agreed in May. Details of the deal are not finished but the bill will go through parliament in parallel with EU negotiations www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Ely in the snow

Ely in the snow

“Feels like -6°”

“Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?”

I did have a nice little Manhattan earlier but no pic as I’ve drunk it

Happy new year 🍸

Happy new year 🍸

Some of my best work of 2025

Some of my best work of 2025

One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons

I’ve now been asked for feedback on my phone provider’s approach to seeking customer feedback

As I wrote here in 2021, the last three British judges to serve as members of the EU judiciary were snubbed by last Conservative government. Finally, all have received the recognition they deserved. rozenberg.substack.com/p/injustices...

BBC Radio 3 seems to have nearly abandoned Christmas music by the 5th day of Christmas (after acres of it during Advent). Seems a shame

American court-room dramas where the judge is furiously banging their gavel and calling for order, when in fact there is no significant disorder apart from the judge banging & shouting

Well it is still Christmas. And Saturday. So have a sloe gin negroni.

Well it is still Christmas. And Saturday. So have a sloe gin negroni.

Happy Christmas Eve from Ely

Happy Christmas Eve from Ely

Last minute Christmas present request: a device for remotely administering a non-lethal but painful electric shock to people who leave their vehicles running indefinitely outside Jones Towers

A bonus seasonal cocktail this weekend. Wishing you an Old Fashioned Christmas

A bonus seasonal cocktail this weekend. Wishing you an Old Fashioned Christmas

Ely Cathedral and St Mary’s through the bare trees of Jones Gardens

After a brief intermission, Jones Towers Cocktail Bar is open once again, and this evening is dispensing a Christmas Bramble

After a brief intermission, Jones Towers Cocktail Bar is open once again, and this evening is dispensing a Christmas Bramble

Ely Cathedral and St Mary’s through the bare trees of Jones Gardens

I wonder what Trump’s successors will say about him? Does he even possess sufficient insight to envisage that scenario? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Christmas carols, as written by Parliamentary lawyers

Good appointment

The Times seems to have concluded already that Trump will win his action against the BBC, or that the BBC will have to settle, and that “the payout” will put it under “immense financial pressure”

New post: Correcting the record on the ‘primacy’ of the House of Commons publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/12/15/c...

So much evil, cruelty and darkness. What must we do but call out the evil, support the victims, offer compassion, cling to hope, look for the light

No #FridayCocktail this week for medical reasons. Feel free to carry on without me. Normal service resumed next week I hope

NEW The good, the bad and the ugly of ‘rebalancing’ the ECHR Human rights law should be kept under review, but that does not mean it should be weakened My latest post for @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Goodness, this flu is a bastard. Completed wiped out

Day 2 of being confined shivering in my chamber with what I take to be flu, head turned to mush. Thank goodness for BBC Radio 3

Senior members of the UK government will meet ministers from 45 other Council of Europe member states in Strasbourg on Wednesday to discuss the challenges posed by “irregular” migration. rozenberg.substack.com/p/stopping-t...

This week we have a #SaturdayCocktail - a sour cherry negroni. (Negroni purists look away, or deal with it)

This week we have a #SaturdayCocktail - a sour cherry negroni. (Negroni purists look away, or deal with it)

That feeling when you watch a film with some hideous, scheming but charismatic murderer and you kind of want them to get away with it (despite being generally opposed to murder)

No surprise there

I see BBC Radio 3 (along with nearly everyone else) now holds that Advent Sunday “marks the beginning of the Christmas season”. I suppose those three ships have now sailed. Too late to put the eggnog back into the bottle. Or something

I see BBC Radio 3 (along with nearly everyone else) now holds that Advent Sunday “marks the beginning of the Christmas season”. I suppose those three ships have now sailed. Too late to put the eggnog back into the bottle. Or something

The weekend doesn't stop us posting #DivineLight. Stunningly beautiful, the Processional Way Windows (2000) at Ely Cathedral. Read more about the windows here ⤵️ https://englishcathedrals.co.uk/divine-light-the-stained-glass-of-englands-cathedrals-the-modern-age-1920-to-the-present/#DivineLight

For this week’s #FridayCocktail I present a Spiced Sidecar - the brandy infused with cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and ginger. Keeps out the chill, more fun than a blanket

For this week’s #FridayCocktail I present a Spiced Sidecar - the brandy infused with cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and ginger. Keeps out the chill, more fun than a blanket

Thank goodness it wasn’t permenantly closed for ever

Thank goodness it wasn’t permenantly closed for ever

Just think, if Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill had become law, its provision for the “right” to trial by jury, where legislation provides for trial by jury, would make no difference to anything