Thank goodness McDonald’s are not getting rid of the mcplant. I waited decades for a decent vegeburger from them and my child would starve when out with friends without it 😂

I can say from personal experience that Putin is threatened by strong women. As I argue in a new piece in @foreignaffairs.com, he and his fellow autocrats have reason to fear us: Defending women's rights and combating authoritarianism is the same fight. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Wrote this for the last Winter Olympics - would genuinely still love to have Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski providing real time sports commentary on my assorted mundane dysfunctions #Olympics originallittleoldlady.com/2022/02/25/j...

Mary Beale (née Cradock) (1633‍–‍1699) was an English painter who specialised in portrait painting. She was part of a small band of female professional artists working in London #Womensart

There was an Outer Limits episode, I think, about people who were on an alien planet where it never stopped raining. It drove them mad. Feels like that a bit recently.

I never really sign stuff. But this was different. It's not about trying to facilitate or block a particular party's route to power. It's about an electoral system that's unsuited to the political realities we face today and risks giving us government after government with no convincing mandate.

This was a good quick reaction from the PM instead of days of dithering. Maybe a sign of hope after McSweeny’s departure? Or am I just fooling myself?

My favorite artifact in the "you don't need AI to do art" discourse is, of course, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's sketch of the facehugger to explain it to Giger.

NEW BLOGPOST: Palestine Action: What just happened? A look at some of the legal principles at play following yesterday's verdicts. thesecretbarrister.com/2026/02/05/p...

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean has taken over the role as Lord Speaker. So what does the Lord Speaker do? Read our explainer to find out more about the role and how it is elected www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/lo...

Odd to see use of the Parliament Acts described as “unconstitutional”, even “unprecedented”. It’s not unconstitutional for the Lords to vote against a Bill. Nor is it unconstitutional for the Parliament Acts to be used to pass a Bill approved by the Commons alone. That is actually the constitution

The list of people consulted seems to be missing one group - teenagers. Snapchat is how teens communicate. Ban it and you will destroy support and friendship networks.

Since y'all asked nicely, here's my complete history of Robin of Sherwood. One of the finest TV shows ever made. Hugely influential. Most modern cinematic/TV Robin Hood tropes trace back to it. As Herne would say: "Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten." authory.com/JohnBull/Not...

Feeling virtuous, as I just resisted the temptation to dump the Christmas tree lights in the box in a tangled mess. I hope Christmas 2026 me is suitably grateful.

Over Christmas I read a book I thought would be a fun cozy read but was so bad. All in present tense which my brain just rejects- it’s not edgy or modern, it’s just bad writing. I don’t know why I finished it other than bloody-mindedness. Now I’m reading a Terry Pratchett to make it up to myself.

Happy New Year everyone. This is the bit I love - absolute silence on the road outside.

One of our Christmas presents arrived a little early this year.

“one hoggeshede bookes” is basically what I’m hoping to get for Christmas.

Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.

Christmas card writing today - having a flashback to ‘70s childhood trauma of the box of different cards for the class, and having to decide who got a cute one, and who got the photo of baubles. And then the pain when you received a bauble card.

An excellent piece by Yasmin Khan in @theguardian.com – and I’m very relieved the preposterous case against her has been dropped. www.theguardian.com/food/comment...

I feel so much pain for whoever sent the budget details out too early from the OBR. The horror they must have gone through when they realized what they had done. Real ‘there but for the Grace of God…’ time www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Magistrates convict a higher proportion of defendants than juries, so I hope they are also planning to build more prisons.

I’m reading Dame Elizabeth Lane’s autobiography Hear the Other Side. This remarkable woman was not only the first female High Court judge, but she also hired the first female judge’s clerk (on Lord Denning’s recommendation) and was the first female Bencher of an Inn of Court.

I think I am playing Elden Ring and then looking for help online too much, as my iPad now auto corrects any misspelling beginning with E into Erd Tree. My emails are not going to make sense 😂

New post: Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...

17 hours left and we just hit £9k! Please keep sharing and pledging! www.kickstarter.com/projects/fli... You are all wonderful and I can't wait to make this book for you!

New post The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...

I’m sure I read in a chancellor’s memoirs (maybe Roy Jenkins or Ken Clarke’s) that he wasn’t even allowed to walk to Parliament for the budget statement in case his demeanour gave a clue about the budget contents and set the markets flapping. Maybe we should go back to that.

I read a book in the ‘80s about a man who didn’t want to be part of the UK having nuclear weapons, so he declared his house and garden a separate country. After the past week’s government announcements, I think I’d like to do that.

There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.

There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.

Good piece in the Conversation about the Trump /BBC potential case. theconversation.com/trump-v-the-...

NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...

Instead of constant soap opera nonsense I wish the papers would focus more on the bills that are being passed. On what is actually being changed (for better or worse). This and crystal ball gazing about the budget is all I see in my timeline. I know they think it’s what people want, but is it?

One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age: One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing And then you'll say. Wait a second. Fuck 'em

As creators of educational, religious and charitable institutions, women of means found ways to circumvent the patriarchal power structures of medieval society.

I get fed up of the right wing nonsense about London. My family spent half-term in London, felt perfectly safe, enjoyed traveling round, seeing all sorts of sites and people, in a great atmosphere. I’m proud of London - it’s part of what makes this country great.

National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign. 35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee 12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate Non-slate candidated www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

This is a genuinely fascinating piece of research done by Sky on the sewer previously known as Twitter. Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/

I love these

Nobody ever talks about how weird this was

If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home. I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.

This Robert Jenrick football nonsense - he’s trying to appeal to people my age with ‘it was great when you were young’ But we remember, football hooliganism was a national shame. Saying otherwise basically tells us we’re stupid for thinking it was a problem.

My husband has just put on Making Plans for Nigel and announced that in four years it will be 50 years old. No. Just stop it.

Is it me or have spell checkers got significantly worse recently? I just typed ‘aite’ in a document and the spell checker gave me a list of words beginning with ‘a’ that I’ve never heard of instead of the obvious ’site’, because my finger just slipped and hit the wrong key.

The UCL Constitution Unit has an excellent briefing series on UK politics that is perfect for students of all ages and levels. The latest release includes a briefing on #NorthernIreland, which I co-authored. Read it for free here: www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo... @conunitucl.bsky.social

The hatemonger Rupert Lowe MP wrote a whiny letter to @thebarcouncil.bsky.social complaining about the Black Interns scheme. Well done Bar Council and Bar Chair for this robust response.

Here's how we handle manchildren on the Steam forums at No More Robots: