New word of the day: whippoorwill (n). A north and central American nightjar, based on an 18th century imitation of its call.

Malkinson has more than earned his say on this, given the sense of bitterness he must have towards Quinn. But we've entered an entirely silly phase in court reporting, if we're pretending a 24 year sentence is somehow a soft-touch disposal. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Japanese salarymen food YouTube is an unsettling combination of remarkable cheap after work dinners available in the dead of night and constant existential ennui, alienation & dread. Recommended if you don't have enough of either of these things in your life already.

A blast from the past! My parents have been clearing out some things and came across this letter I was sent by Winnie Ewing back in January 1998 when she was an MEP and I was about 11 years old, in response to a wee story in the Oban Times.

A real multiplepoinding! In the wild! One for dedicated fans of obscure Scottish legal actions, here to determine who exactly owns a 1985 Ferrari Coupe 328. A "guid ganging process" according to Sheriff George Jamieson. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/zikbkx...

As part of the UK Supreme Court's visit to Glasgow this week we welcomed Lady Simler to GCU Law. It was great to have the opportunity to interview her about her background and for our Law Clinic students to share their work with her, explaining how we're promoting access to justice in the city.

"For devilment" is a rationale for change we hear too seldom. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Finally and belatedly abolish the hereditary principle - and you still can't get rid of the mob. Lose one ermine cagoule, and the UK government finds you another. www.gov.uk/government/n...

The idea Anas Sarwar can cling on as Scottish Labour leader now is absurd. He came. He saw. He lost. It's over. www.thenational.scot/politics/260...

Lewis Graham: Judicial Ideology and Supreme Court Appointments ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/05/06/l...

A less fragile administration might be more comfortable with admitting this kind of paradiplomacy can be positive and impactful. But not this UK government. Instead? The cringe. Today's @scotnational.bsky.social column. www.thenational.scot/politics/260...

A recurring culinary conundrum: I have a nice peat-smoked haddock fillet in. Fish pie or kedgeree, or something else? I suppose there's always omelette Arnold Bennett too.

Who knew it was so straightforward for people who allegedly "aren't close" to the Prime Minister or his chief of staff to find themselves nominated for plum diplomatic jobs by the PM and his now exiled factotum, against all official advice? It must all be a jolly accident.

A judicial review case in the Court of Session asking: has the Foreign Secretary unlawfully delayed issuing a decision on the request of two Palestinians for consular assistance to leave Gaza with a view to their entering the UK? www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/tgbbrv...

People who gave themselves permission to identify complainers in the Salmond case have already been jailed for between 6 & 8 months for contempt of court. To suppose these consequences couldn't be visited on you for doing the same thing is courageous, but I suggest you don't.

One criminal justice policy from today's Scottish Labour Manifesto. I'm not entirely sure what the "loopholes" in the current legislation are supposed to be. "Disclosing, or threatening to disclose, an intimate photograph or film" is already an offence. www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/22/...

Fantasy plans to imprison thousands of people in imaginary prisons isn’t victim-centred or hardline – it’s quackery and charlatanism and should be confronted as such. Today's column on this week's wild Scottish Tory manifesto on criminal justice. www.thenational.scot/politics/260...

'a new Chagos bill is not expected to feature in the King's Speech in mid-May.' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The BBC article doesn't explicitly use the D-word to describe the legal basis of these letters, but it sounds like the care home company may have threatened defamation proceedings against these people, given the reference to "serious harm." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Crispin Odey “forced to accept” that the FT was “likely to succeed in establishing” its public interest defence in defamation case. www.ft.com/content/6966...

The Ted Heath exoneration.

In their 2026 manifesto, the Scottish Tories are effectively proposing to double the Scottish prison population (currently over capacity at 8,000) with precisely no serious proposals for how to pay the capital or revenue cost (roughly £47k per prisoner per year) of doing so.

"Ulti­mately, the elect­or­ate decides what counts, what they care about, and who wins. And they’re entitled to take into account whatever they like – includ­ing your reli­gion." Today's Herald on Sunday / Sunday National bit. www.thenational.scot/politics/259...

One of the more surprising recent paragraphs from the Appeal Court's recent judgment in Sean Kirkup v HM Advocate... www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/mtpd4e...

British citizen who returned to Scotland from South Africa in 2021 after threats faced by his mother fails in attempt to persuade Court of Session he should be treated as "analogous to a refugee" for the purposes of university tuition fees. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/n3nbzc...

Crying out for the Herbert Morrison / Ernest Bevin treatment. When someone suggested to Bevin that Peter Mandelson's grandfather was "his own worst enemy," Bevin responded "not while I'm alive he ain't."

This week, I was in Aberdeen! My first ever visit to the Granite City (potentially a cancellable admission) thanks to the kindly invitation from the team at Aberdeen University Law School to present some of my research on reporting restrictions & scope for reform. A flying but fortifying trip.

Inner House of Court of Session strongly emphasise importance and public interest in upholding legal professional privilege, concluding the Scottish Information Commissioner made "error of law" in ordering Scottish Government disclosure. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/zzgbx5...

<a homophobic joke so outrageous we're not going to tell you what it actually was> must be a holding position for the Daily Record. It's now only a matter of time till we plumb the depths of Baron Offord's patter.

Holyrood's decision not to reform the law on assisted dying leaves us with the status quo - a kind of legal limbo which will add to the store of human suffering, but which is also inconsistent with the explanations given by the majority for opposing legislation. www.thenational.scot/politics/259...

ALT Text: "A lost soul encounters a strange, ursine psychopomp in the desolate fields of purgatory."

Creating a "Scottish Healthcare Reform Commission" (as Reform UK commit to in their Scottish manifesto today) sounds an awful lot like ... establishing a new quango.

AI generated hallucinations make one of their first reported appearances in Scottish litigation. Here involving a party vs party case in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court where non-existent case-law was cited raising issues of contempt of court. scotcourts.gov.uk/media/tf3nid...

It'd be interesting to know what the legal basis is for anonymising the officers involved here. Looking on the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service website, it doesn't look like any orders have been made under section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act here. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

⚖️ By my reckoning, the final count is 71. Today's Sunday National column on what we now know about the scale and scope of the Post Office Horizon scandal in Scotland. www.thenational.scot/politics/259...

📉 Another crowdfunded judicial review case reaches the Court of Session (www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/money-to-p...). Galloway Without Pylons unsuccessful in attempted planning challenge. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/mm1m0b...

Permission was refused today in the JR of decisions relating to the Chagos Islands: caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2...

One of the more colourful fraud cases to come out of Scotland in recent years. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Scottish Government have just published its statutory report on implementation of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024, including information on number of subpostmasters' convictions quashed. www.gov.scot/publications...

Can't believe I missed this one (via Tommy Ross KC). What happens if you're on trial & you seize the moment to take a selfie & upload it to the internet with the legend "ha ha court"? In Inverness at least - the answer is up to 12 months imprisonment. www.scottishlegal.com/articles/ha-...

🦋 Crowdfunded environmental campaign group Restore Nature successfully challenge Scottish Forrestry in Court of Session judicial review, (turning in part on the impact on the Northern brown argus butterfly, pictured). www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/zoddjk...

This IPSO adjudication against the Telegraph is quite something Confirms their story titled: ‘We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays’ was completely fabricated, with the family involved non-existent and stock pictures used www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/0210...

A sad case, but I'm not sure I wholly understand why it is characterised as "the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Unexpected things I've learned this week: Iran is the last bastion of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic...

Labour minister Josh Simons resigns after falsely linking journalists who exposed Labour Together’s funding disclosure failures to a “pro-Kremlin” network in emails to GCHQ, despite having professed to be “surprised” and “furious” about a PR firm’s attempts to discredit them and their journalism.

"The Hunt for Arlene Fraser's Killer" is a new two-part documentary commissioned for BBC Scotland. It was a privilege to be able to participate in the recording, explaining key legal issues. Episode 1 broadcast tonight on BBC Scotland, BBC2 later this week & on iPlayer www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Does the biggest risk of contempt of court these days arise from social media - or our from politicians? Today's @scotnational.bsky.social column on a week of Murrell and Mountbatten-Windsor. www.thenational.scot/politics/258...

📈 Having passed the permission stage in the Court of Session, the Scottish challenge to the proscription of Palestine Action is now the 12th biggest crowdfunder in Scottish litigation history, having currently raised £125,493. www.crowdjustice.com/case/scottis...

Amen. High heat. Not overcooked. Generously salted. Like crack when done right. www.theguardian.com/food/2026/fe...