Turcu v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2005] EWHC 799 (QB): the "sting of the libel" & "sloppy journalism".

So much could be done with these cooling towers, including Ratcliffe (pictured, from the train station it's conveniently situated next to, near where I grew up) - museums, art, venues. There's a petition here to help prevent them all being destroyed. c.org/dtx6P7L647

Here's the company if anyone's interested: octoberfilms.co.uk/work/ I suspect those gunning for the BBC will say such a woke outfit shouldn't ever have been used in the first place. bsky.app/profile/bend...

One strange thing about the BBC/Trump row is that the programme in question was actually made by an independent production company. Yes, the BBC producers and Panorama’s editor should have checked everything before it was broadcast. But… 1/3

Ghostly pallor - but a great pod. @QMUL's finest, @robertsaunders.bsky.social talking Britain going berserk. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ8q...

On the Clubland Substack: the 1st of a 2-part article, offering a deep dive into clubs in the world of John Le Carré's George Smiley. This one looks at Smiley's fictional clubs; their influences; & how they change between the original novels & the TV version. clubland.substack.com/p/clubman-ta...

IMV the BBC made a bad mistake with the spliced speech, but the idea that it distorted an otherwise peaceful bit of oratory is nonsense. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the speech etc = insurrection. SCOTUS didn't dispute those factual findings. www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/fi...

The whole thread👇.

The worst of all worlds. Not just breaking the promise, but lying about breaking it, *again*, but this time in a way that people (pensioners) are really going to resent, & not raising taxes enough to make a real difference, so they may need to raise again, & on it goes. www.ft.com/content/9e56...

Great article with some fantastic posters.

Intriguing idea here from @stephenkb.bsky.social, which may help address the trust issue: a big enough sacrifice. Presumably MM & others would go as well, & the new regime would open the way for a more convincing apology: the manifesto was wrong, & we won't do it again. www.ft.com/content/43c2...

One thing I definitely hadn't predicted was that it'd take nearly 18 months to get to Option 3. bsky.app/profile/publ...

If the manifesto tax pledge is to be broken (again), presumably too much to ask that the Govt comes clean on it. Here calling sticking to their own pledge "expediency", & referring to a Brexit deal they voted for as "rushed & ill-conceived". www.ft.com/content/75c6... www.ft.com/content/222a...

Worth a read of this if you haven't seen it yet. Given especially rumours around the budget. The tax pledge seems very much the PM's responsibility. Here eg given top billing on the introduction to the manifesto ("tax lock", "pledge"). labour.org.uk/updates/stor... bsky.app/profile/samf...

The horror… www.thetimes.com/article/ae84...

I can’t understand what KB is saying here - anyone else know? I can’t see the fact that it was an amendment should make any difference as to whether a provision operates retrospectively… www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Here's the strategic argument for the "Reform-lite" approach, which appears to be driving much of Government policy on immigration, crime etc. bsky.app/profile/rent...

Still intrigued as to the reasons for the reverse (official & otherwise): this suggests it *was* their policy (rather than sloppy drafting). If so, what prompted the change? Who gave the policy instructions for the bill, & what did KB & CP think they were signing up to? bsky.app/profile/pete...

Always the most astute analysis of Ukraine (& Gaza & other conflicts). I wonder also what Russia's longer term economic prospects are, & the impact on threats to NATO, given the reliance on oil & gas, & costs & damage caused by this conflict. Interesting snippet here.

Still using rather than regulating X, as its owner rouses "the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival".

Donald Trumps plan to subvert the midterms is underway From David Graham, on the cover of the next edition of @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

I suppose quite a reasonable possibility people like this could be part of a coalition government in a few years' time. Noticed this from a recent Martin Wolf piece. www.ft.com/content/2129... bsky.app/profile/zara...

Nick Timothy's report on the Home Office. He seems surprised it's hard to recruit civil servants. nicktimothy.com/report-by-ni...

Someone ought to do a thing on Guru Chic. bsky.app/profile/youn...

Cautiously optimistic end to this, noting the limited public support for dismantling the postwar order. Meanwhile, the media & politicians have got much more antagonistic, which tends to distort the real nature of public opinion on this. bsky.app/profile/samf...

Article arguing that the Rwanda scheme could’ve worked if it had just been given a bit more time to bed in & sort the legal problems, a view apparently shared by some in Government. www.thetimes.com/article/a885...

Montie gives Pochin the benefit of his wisdom.

This is very good. This detail in particular seems to sum up a certain attitude in the strategists’ bubble - arrogant, entitled, delusional.

How to make ethnic cleansing ‘dinner party acceptable’, ‘palatable’, in the ‘squeamish’ political arena. thecritic.co.uk/pantsuit-dep...

Full explanation of the CPS reasoning for the dropping of the case.

This letter includes a neat summary of the AG's view of the constitutional position regarding the relationship between Government and the CPS. The lines between the two aren't always appreciated by media commentary. (See the US currently for an example of when these lines start dissolving.)

Obviously the No10 view which is driving lots of Govt policy. Does anyone know what the evidence for it is? (It's not obvious why eg more potential Labour voters, even in such seats, are attracted to Reformish policies.) Polling, focus groups, past result analysis? bsky.app/profile/rent...

It was excellent, & particularly thought-provoking in the current political environment.

See two of the supporters of the Bill. Chris Philp might have been fronting it, but clearly doesn’t understand its provisions. I suspect Nick Timothy does, & wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the policy brain behind it. bsky.app/profile/pete...

They obviously don't understand their own policy. There's no exception in their Bill for EU nationals. The Bill applies to ILR generally, & the exceptions are in clause 3(6), & don't include EU nationals. bsky.app/profile/pete...

Is the PM too weak to deal with the people behind these briefings, who maybe have (or think they have) the backing of the Chief of Staff? Such infighting ("No 10/ Whitehall" vs "Cabinet Office") & undermining of senior figures can't help the Government. www.thetimes.com/article/fa96...

How quickly they can break things, & how long it might take to repair the damage.

Very odd. The legislation referred to in this thread was introduced by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary - so must be the official Conservative position - from May this year. So not just Katie Lam pushing the boundaries. Yet here he seems to be attacking his own policy. bsky.app/profile/sund...

For the reasons why this is not at all surprising see my post ( £/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/deja-vu-al...

Conference speech. bsky.app/profile/jess...

Has anyone found out from EHRC how it regards itself as complying with its legal duties regarding X & its own use of X? Its main duties are in the Equality Act 2006. They include wide-ranging duties on promoting equality & against discrimination, & a specific duty to enforce the Equality Act 2010.

Looks unwise to me for the Met to weigh in on the politics like this. It conflates non-crime incidents with actual criminal investigations (like this one). www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

What does someone like Katie Lam consider to be ‘precious about Britain’? There used to be a feeling that this covered things like liberty, tolerance & a sense of fair play, but obviously those values don’t sit very well with the policies being suggested. www.thetimes.com/article/6e05...

What does someone like Katie Lam consider to be ‘precious about Britain’? There used to be a feeling that this covered things like liberty, tolerance & a sense of fair play, but obviously those values don’t sit very well with the policies being suggested. www.thetimes.com/article/6e05...

Recalls Alan Clark in his ministerial office: “Sometimes I get a wild urge to relieve my bladder out of the window, spattering the ant-like minions below.”

That’s the conundrum Matt Collins faced. He couldn’t put words into the mouth of the previous government which they hadn’t used. For all the rhetoric now, their stated policy (IR 2023) was that China was an ‘epoch-defining challenge’. Collins instead assessed the threat of specific Chinese actions.

The witness ‘could not certify what the 1911 Act seemed to require’ - that China was a national security threat. In reality, both this & the last Government’s assessment was more ‘nuanced’.

I can't imagine what you mean...

This is very good, from earlier in the year, by Meg Russell. www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...

A Government that wanted to do "whatever it pleases" wouldn't stop at ditching the ECnHR.