Labour governments don't come along often; it would, therefore, be good if this so-called Labour government actually started acting like a Labour government.

The Scottish Government has announced a 13% increase in civil, criminal and children's legal aid fees with effect from 1 September 2026: www.gov.scot/news/legal-a...

On Monday the Court of Session will hear a judicial review of the decision to make an order under the Terrorism Act 2000 proscribing Palestine Action. The hearing, before Lord Young, appears as though it is to be livestreamed: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/livestream/

I have written a short blog post on the Scottish Government's consultation on extending FOI laws to care homes and care at home services provided by private and third sector organisations: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/01/08/s...

MSPs will debate legal aid reform this afternoon following an important inquiry into Civil Legal Assistance in Scotland ▶️Watch the debate at www.scottishparliament.tv/ #LegalAidMatters #AccessToJustice

For my first blog post of 2026 I return to a subject that I've written about before which is section 166 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and its very limited scope: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/01/06/s...

Bulgaria is welcoming a new year and a new currency.

Mu卐 IS an absolute IDIOT! www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/elon-mu...

Merry Christmas; may everyone have a lovely day.

Disputes about the medical treatment that a hospital can and cannot provide to a child are not unheard of in England and Wales and I am sure that anyone with a passing interest will be able to immediately think of some high profile cases in the last decade. They are, however, pretty much unheard of

Last full day in Tenerife today. Looks like it will be another lovely day.

This “Labour” government is a disgrace. Almost no sign of Labour values in government policy (except, perhaps, on employment law and renters rights in England) What Mahmood seems not to get is that many of the people she is pandering to with her immigration policies don’t want her here either.

For the second time in my 37 years on the planet, I am enjoying my birthday in the warm sunshine rather than the Scottish winter.

Good morning from Tenerife. Here for some much needed downtime and relaxation.

I’ve written on my personal blog about an extraordinary CoA judgment in which the Chief Constable of Northants Police has been found in contempt over egregious BWV disclosure failings informationrightsandwrongs.com/2025/11/13/c...

Controllers who lazily automatically ask for scanned copies of photo ID in response to subject access requests as proof of ID will always rile the data protection lawyer in me. Verification must be reasonable and proportionate and, above all, must actually be capable of verifying ID.

Conor Casey: The Attorney’s Bridle: The Constitutional Convention Disciplining the Attorney General’s Discretionary Powers ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/10/20/c...

In my humble opinion a Bill of Renunciation and Deprivation should be introduced to Parliament. He should be deprived of those titles, the style and titular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom, his right to the style of HRH and of his place in the line of succession. No Commonwealth Realm

Let’s be clear: he is not losing his titles. He has been told to stop using them. There’s a difference; he still legally has the Dukedom, Earldom and Barony. An Act of Parliament is required in order for him to “lose” them.

The King should go further and request that the Government introduce a Bill to formally deprive him of the titles of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh (the only way that they can actually be removed). He may have agreed to stop using them, but legally he still possesses the titles

Certain sections of the media printing/reporting obviously nonsense stories (such as people not being deported because they had a cat or because they liked a certain type of chicken nuggets) as if they were fact probably hasn't helped www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Absolutely terrible idea from the Conservatives. Ministers absolutely should not be issuing guidelines to the independent judiciary. Does Robert Jenrick not understand the meaning of the word "independent"? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Scottish Law Commission has published a draft Homicide (Scotland) Bill which would abolish the common law crimes of murder and culpable homicide in Scotland replacing them with statutory crimes (of the same name). The report and draft Bill are here: www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/files/3017/5...

I don't think anyone is particularly interested in my thoughts on what occurred in the USA yesterday. Incidents of this kind often require nuance and an ability to hold more than one thought at the same time; that is, sadly, something that appears increasingly difficult in modern society and fairly

Not unsurprising given that people are spending longer on pre-trial remand (about a quarter of Scotland's prison population are on remand) and those who are convicted are being sent to prison by the courts in greater numbers and for longer than they were historically: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Following on from the launch of "Court of Session Live" in 2023, the first livestream of a Scottish criminal appeal will take place on Friday 29 August. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

All political parties in the UK use this tactic and have been for years. If a political party invites you to sign a petition or support a particular campaign and it’s not on a government website, then it’s simply a data harvesting operation by the party concerned.

The thing that surprises me is that people are surprised that a man with obvious authoritarian desires and who came into office threatening to forcibly take the territory of another sovereign state is aligning himself with an authoritarian dictator who is stealing territory from a sovereign state.

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!

I've written a short piece on my blog concerning Bristol City Council's unsuccessful appeal against an Enforcement Notice served on it by the Information Commissioner in relation to delays in responding to FOI requests: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/08/08/f...

Scottish exam results day today and it is always important to reinforce that not getting the results you wanted or needed isn't the end of the world. I didn't get the results that I needed, but ultimately I still ended up where I wanted to be. It was by a different route, but that doesn't matter.

Last week the first Regulations commencing the DUAA were made; the provisions of the Act identified in the Regs will come into force on 20 August. In my latest blog post, I look at some of the data protection provisions that will come into force on 20 August: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/07/28/t...

Got asked for ID and to confirm my date of birth when buying (in store) an age restricted product today…I will take that!

I've written a short post looking at yesterday's 3-2 judgment of the Supreme Court on the proper approach to conducting the public interest test in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where more than one qualified exemptions applies to the same information: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/07/24/w...

I've seen suggestion that Mr Speaker was concerned about the super-injunction. Proceedings in Parliament are immune from sanction by the courts. The ISC could, in my view, have held secret hearings to hold ministers and officials to account without undermining the injunctions that were in place.

In my latest blog post I look at a @foi.scot decision which, for the first time, required a Scottish public authority to respond to a request for environmental information despite it being manifestly unreasonable: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/07/18/w...

Surely as the Secretary of State for work and pensions she knows that PIP is not an out of work benefit? It assists with the increased costs that come with disability. Many PIP claimants work.

My own MP @brianleishmanmp.bsky.social appears to be one of those suspended today. Must say I am seriously considering my own membership of the party. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Scottish Govt has confirmed an intention to consult on raising the legal age in Scotland at which a person can get married from 16 to 18. Currently, 16 and 17 year olds can get married in Scotland without any parental consent. This would be an important change. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Last week the First-tier Tribunal published its decision on a preliminary issue in TikTok against v Information Commissioner. In this blog post (the first of two) I look at decision addressing two of four matters that the Tribunal determined it had to decide: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/07/07/t...

This decision has come in for a lot of criticism. Eligibility for legal aid is assessed on the applicant's means at the time of the application. We simply don't know what was in the application and it would be an offence for anyone at SLAB to reveal it: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/4...

The ICO recently sought permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal over case management directions issued by the FTT in relation to the making up of bundles. In my latest blog post, I look at what the UT had to say about the issue when refusing permission: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/07/02/b...

Last week a rare Sheriff Court data protection judgment was published. The controller had mixed success in challenging the case at debate. In my latest post on my blog, I've looked at what the Sheriff's judgment says in relation to data protection pleadings. blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/06/30/p...

Such a shame that there is a different sort of orange on the horizon tomorrow.

What is the PM and Cabinet thinking? There are so many Labour MPs saying they will vote against HMG on this issue that even if they convince some not to rebel the only way HMG wins this vote is with opposition support. That support won't be from the SNP, Greens or LDs.

Final day in Crete today and I’ve come a little further along the coast to Agios Nikolaos which is delivering stunning views like this

Foreign Aid is literally one of the ways to reduce worldwide economic migration (including into the UK)…

Arrived in Crete today for a week of relaxation and this is my view at dinner tonight.

The Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill is here. What could it mean for public bodies, requesters and transparency more generally? blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2025/06/06/t...

The Data (Use and Access) Bill is back in the House of Lords today after the Commons rejected the latest Lord’s amendment on AI and copyright yesterday. Will the Lords amend the Bill again or will it finally be able to be sent to the King for assent?