Which one is more English?

How glib and superficial and frankly ignorant can you be to dismiss this. How dare you suggest that France and Germany being close allies and friends is a small or even (in the words of many British colleagues) “weird“ and dispensable achievement. I have had enough of it.

Don't forget to order your 2026 Law Paw calendar! Calendars cost £20 and feature dozens of adorable law-themed pet photographs. Plus all the money raised goes to @savechildrenuk.bsky.social . www.billablehour.org/calendar/uk2022-n5hfj-bkdhx-nya88-t88th

Just so I’m clear, to be properly English and not suspiciously foreign my ancestors have to be from Germany? 🤪

Spray tan = $150 Waxing = $100 half leg, $200 full leg Complimentary prosecco 🥂 Walk-ins accepted!! 💝

You must take my legitimate concerns seriously, ideally without making me say out loud what they are as I find when I do that they tend to sound a bit awful.

The new John Lewis ad is highly offensive. It should be forbidden to have advertisements provoking nostalgia for music scenes I was too old to participate in when they came round for the first time. Harumph.

Am struggling with the idea that people like me somehow don't understand the legitimate concerns of people who attended the Tommy Robinson march. I literally had National Front fliers through my letterbox in my childhood in Greater London and I went to school and university with actual fascists.

43% of Americans have looked at the ICE raids and decided that they are about right (28%) or that they don’t go far enough (15%). 😳

Being super-rich is not a good indicator of what you’ve put in, it’s a measure of what you’ve taken out.

Surely we can aspire to better than re-modelling our government into a concierge service for the ultra-wealthy.

Rich people taxed too much, young people paid too much. Gotcha.

It will end badly for the fascists. The trick is to make sure that it doesn’t end badly for any of the rest of us in the meantime.

Well-meaning Americans in my mentions: kindly do not recommend extremely illegal actions that could land people in the UK with a ten year prison sentence

Since it is apparently up to self-appointed, middle-aged white British men to decide who truly is or is not British, I’ve decided Matt Goodwin isn’t.

Jesus.

Could Katie Lam identify the London schools where "more than three-quarters of children don’t speak English to a serviceable school standard". Well done to @davehillonlondon.bsky.social for giving Lam + CPS the chance to substantiate this claim at the Tory fringe www.onlondon.co.uk/dave-hill-ka...

First they were upset when details were not given. Now they’re upset when they are.

Outstanding

This is, quite literally, insane. A free market/property rights defence of a landlord's right to let damp and mouldy property that will kill occupiers. (Also an illustration of why housing conditions have been regulated by statute for the last 100 years or so.) thecritic.co.uk/against-awaa...

Calling all barristers and solicitor-advocates. If you are able to help with my PhD research on the jury, please do get in contact with me. Thank you in advance!

They say he’ll be Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but wouldn’t he be Commander Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor RN (Retd), assuming he’ll lose the post retirement honorary promotions?

This is the kind of thing that makes want to believe there is a hell.

I was at the @freerepunit.bsky.social annual general assembly last night and continue to marvel how much good it does.

Long shot (mainly due to how little engagement I get on here), but I'm looking for freelance writers with an interest, or specialism in, classical music. If you are one, or know one, please give me a shout.

Just had lunch with a great friend and colleague who told me solemnly that the Labour Party is now controlled by the Fabians and that Fabians are radical communists. This is my first real world sighting of this amazing idea.

Does this end up with the pharmaceutical company owning Texas?

This #buyastrangerabook offer refuses to be taken. Yesterday @jenillustrates.bsky.social sent me £20 so someone could get their Xmas pressie buying started early. So, if you're planning on getting someone a book for xmas (of course you are), let us know what it is, and Jen will buy it! UK only

Fantastic news that Gavin Mansfield is appointed to the High Court Bench. He is absurdly talented and a lovely guy.

Apple’s hard and software engineers should be locked for a day in a room with a cohort of senior citizens demanding help with what should be relatively straightforward tasks but which are complicated by the ramifications of attempts by children, neighbours and passers-by to help in the past.

Why is having Black and Asian actors in advertisements “DEI madness”?

Every week I feature 6 things in my newsletter, often doing extensive research, linking to stimulating, thought-provoking and sometimes moving articles and films, and writing carefully crafted text to accompany each item. And every week, by some distance, the most clicked links are the silly games.

Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk

Curious to know, what is the non-offensive way to phrase the proposition that there are too many non-white people in TV adverts? I must confess I’m struggling. Something, something, culture, something something?

I’m fascinated by Bill Maher, who I gather hosts a sort of politics-based chat show. I’ve otherwise no idea who he is. What, in particular, fascinates me is that *every* time I see him mentioned it’s people surprised he’s more right wing than they’d thought. Why are people still surprised?

I am loving this extra hour in bed and would be willing to explore the possibility of staying here all day.

Are you ready for Halloween? Terrify trick or treaters with the spectre of an enormous legal bill with our double-headed bat-winged monstrosity and help @savechildrenuk.bsky.social

I apologise for my earlier comments. They were phrased poorly and unintentionally revealed what goes on in my head.

Christ

I hadn’t known that the Blue Nile had appeared on Jools Holland’s Later show. Not only does that mean Holland’s career has not been a tragic waste of pianos, it justifies 30 years of my paying licence fee. youtube.com/watch?v=7KI0...

Barbara Mills KC’s latest column covers meeting David Lammy MP, chronic underfunding of the justice system, the Opening of the Legal Year, upcoming events and next steps for the Harman review. Read the Chair’s column➡️ www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/funding-for-justice-safety-for-lawyers

This is excellent!

Our weekend amnesty is now OPEN! That's right, we are now accepting our final entries for the 2026 LawPaw calendar. Send your photograph to [email protected] to secure your pet a place in the calendar!

Oh but I hate LLM AI so much. Four new client inquiries today, all AI generated, all confidently stating causes of action that don't exist, or are completely out of time, but each with a potential underlying claim, and with valuations of the claim that are out by an order of magnitude.

When I have to: 1. Look after my little goddaughter - put Bluey on the television. 2. Look after my mum - put Only Murders in the Building on the television.

Fair play to @waterstones.bsky.social Wimbledon. On my mum’s instructions, I asked for the biography of “that woman comedian, who has played a lot of people and has been sick and makes people laugh by falling over” and had a copy of Miranda Hart’s book in my hands moments later.

It was a great evening.

Off shortly to see @dorianlynskey.bsky.social interview @anneapplebaum.bsky.social -the very definition of being in my bubble.

The AWS outage today is a good reminder that there is no "cloud", there's just somebody else's computer.

Wholly unfair to pit Daphne against Ginger, both of whom are gorgeous!