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...

I can't help but think this adaptation of Wuthering Heights has taken some serious liberties with content and tone the original source material.

⚖️ The Divisional Court's full judgment in Ammori, finding that the Home Secretary's proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful. www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

Thesis: sending political journalists to cover any kind of moderately complex legal case is almost a complete waste of time for everyone concerned, particularly for the unlucky hack in question.

The only thing you can really take away from this data is that vanishingly few prisoners are ever released from Scottish prisons on compassionate grounds. I am, however, moderately interested in why certain names are "withheld." www.gov.scot/publications...

"No record or recollection" of being given $75,000. I'm sure we can all emphathise Lord Mandelson. Which of us wouln't easily mentally misplace being given this kind of modest persona contribution? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I'm not entirely convinced wearing shorts reaches the threshold of "willful defiance, disrespect, or challenges the authority of the court" - though the Naked Rambler Stephen Gough definitively established that wheeching off *all* your kegs would qualify. news.stv.tv/east-central...

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has published the findings from its 16th case study, focusing on Fettes College in Edinburgh. www.childabuseinquiry.scot/news/scottis...

Scottish headline of the day. "Accidentally" being a top notch inclusion. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today - I am mostly absolutely shrinking from the dark season.

In one of the more surprising recent sentences from the Gurniad: "there is no suggestion that Veronika’s skills are evidence of the evolution of an ominous new species of super-cow." www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

On what remains a fairly cold and dreich January, rather pleased with the wee tulipiere I was inspired to invest in after my Amsterdam jaunt last November.

⚖️ From the Outer House of the Court of Session, Biffa lose of £51.4 million damages action against Scottish Government over ultimate fate of the Deposit Return scheme. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/heokg3...

⚖️ Crown lose appeal against sentence in case against serial conman Robert Markward. The Appeal Court rejected suggestions the trial judge should have made an order for lifelong restriction. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/2tepzu...

"Fair work policies are to be extended at colleges and universities in Scotland as part of a larger change to the funding arrangements for these institutions." www.gov.scot/news/support...

Probably the first Scottish legal crowdfunder of 2026, focused on planning decisions around Inverness. www.crowdjustice.com/case/protect...

12 year extended sentence with 9 year custodial term for man convicted of culpable and reckless discharge of a firearm by firing at ground floor window in Niddrie Marischal Crescent in Edinburgh and unlawful possession of a Glock-style handgun. judiciary.scot/home/sentenc...

A replacement for Lord Bracadale chairing the Sheku Bayoh inquiry. Lord Colbeck was previously the Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and undertook the Clutha helicoper fatal accident inquiry. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Should permission to proceed be given in Scottish judicial review of the UK government's proscription of Palestine Action? In the Court of Session this morning. Government lawyers argue the action is redundant and that Murray lacks legal standing to sue. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/livestream/c...

⚖️ Unusual case of wrongful imprisonment damages of £3,325 for man whose bail status was wrongly recorded by the Scottish court service, resulting in him spending 7 nights in custody before release. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/dpnnkt...

"Off to court this morning. Wallet? Check. Mobile? Check? Imitation firearm? Wouldn't want to leave the house without you..." www.scottishlegal.com/articles/mor...

Well, this was bleak. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

📈 Doing my final survey of legal crowdfunding in Scotland in 2025, it is good to see the crowdfunder seeking to recover Dick Gaughan's IP rights in his early albums was the highest value new campaign launched this year. www.gofundme.com/f/aatux2

I've gone a bit Germanic for tonight's dinner. Duck, spiced red cabbage, and I'm experimenting with making kartoffelklöße-style potato dumplings - the textural challenge continues.

🎀 Merry Christmas, everyone!

A familiar phenomenon, but not one often encountered in Scots courts. Court of Session receives parens patriae petition from Scottish health board to authorise potential blood transfusion in case involving 14 year old Jehovah's witnesss. Authority granted. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/gj4ku0...

I don't know if I would enjoy eating this, but it does *look* cool. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/de...

So Holyrood has voted to recriminalise theft. This follows legislation recriminalising assaults & threats towards retail workers, again with lower sentences than already available. Predictable, pointless, & inevitably supported by the overwhelming majority. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

An odd Sheriff Appeal Court case, involving a chap caught speeding at 103 miles per hour, in a car with no tread on his tyres, prosecuted in Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, and handed an absolute discharge by the judge. Crown appeal against sentence allowed. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/mo4mx3...

Dispiriting, if that's the phase, to see Holyrood's Equalities Committee voting down amendments which would give children the legal right to withdraw from religious observance - mobilising amongst other arguments, claims that it'd cost too much(!) Kids have Article 9 rights too.

Good to see Mr Trump citing Liz Truss as an authority in his silly lawsuit against the BBC.

Auditor General finds 'unacceptable governance' at Historic Environment Scotland audit.scot/news/unaccep...

Susanne Tanner KC publishes her review of the Crown’s Approach to Sexual Offences in Scotland, making 197 recommendations. www.copfs.gov.uk/media/0uulow...

New Scottish Parliament poll, Ipsos 27 Nov - 3 Dec (vs 12-18 Jun): List: SNP ~ 28% (+2) Lab ~ 18% (-4) RUK ~ 17% (+1) Grn ~ 17% (+2) Con ~ 12% (+2) LD ~ 7% (-1) Constituency: SNP ~ 35% (+1) RUK ~ 18% (+4) Lab ~ 16% (-7) Con ~ 11% (+1) Grn ~ 9% (nc) LD ~ 9% (nc)

[insert joke about the breathtakingly indefensible here] www.gov.uk/government/n...

⚖️ In X v Lord Advocate, the Supreme Court considers whether the Crown is vicariously liable for civil wrongs allegedly committed by a member of the judiciary, in respect of allegations a sheriff harassed a legal professional. The short answer is: no. www.supremecourt.uk/cases/judgme...

Join our gilded dystopia. There's no butter. www.ft.com/content/bb78...

Glasgow City Council win Court of Session appeal against judicial review finding they were in breach of their obligations under the Housing Act www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/d0hfxi...

Interestingly if enacted these reforms will invert the historic position that trial by jury was more restricted in Scotland than in England. The maximum sentence available for judge-only cases in Scotland is currently 12 months. Anything more needs a jury. www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...

Random legal terminology query of the day. Would you pronounce "timeously" as "tim-ee-usly" or "time-ously," rhyming with mouse or house? Discuss.

"Because Anas Sarwar asked us to." This weekend's column on some of the political implications of Rachel Reeves' UK budget last week. www.thenational.scot/politics/256...

Last week the Supreme Court found Northern Irish rules on religious observance in schools violated Article 9 of the ECHR. Through caution, negligence & sheer legal incuriosity, Jenny Gilruth is sleepwalking the Scottish Government into the same position. www.thenational.scot/comment/2564...

In the Sheriff Appeal Court, an Edinburgh man's case against Natwest claiming £35,000 in damages for breaches of the Equality Act as a result of his "phobia of Pride-related paraphernalia" has been dismissed. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/ygvbue...

It is a truth almost universally unacknowledged in our politics that politicians will simultaneously (a) complain about the cost of public inquiries and (b) demand several new ones should be created immediately. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2564541...

My first time back in the Netherlands since I studied international law in Utrecht back in 2006/07. Moderately drookit out in Amsterdam today, but all the better context to find a bruin café and wee plate of bitterballen.