Recent posts by UK Constitutional Lawyers on Bluesky

LOUDER FOR THE GREEN VOTERS AT THE BACK

If I was in government I’d make geography harder so fewer kids picked it for gcse over history (Ok, bye) as.ft.com/r/b2c04eb1-7... The real lesson of Reform’s war on the history curriculum

You love to see it. And still burning. #explodey

Daphne has your best interests at heart and has cancelled Tuesday

The jury has been decided and the social media posts have been messy - but what is at stake in the trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman this week? My latest for @the-independent.com www.the-independent.com/tech/elon-mu...

From the archive, 8 years ago: #Top10 People Whose Names Are Palindromes independent.co.uk/voices/top-1...

The Labour movement has always fought to accommodate universalist liberalism with worker solidarity. We have a problem when those in charge have universal liberal instincts but try to carry out worker solidarity policies and end up making a hash of everything.

BP’s having another huge earnings season, profiting from the havoc caused by Trump’s war against Iran. What is a dire threat to UK growth and living standards is a bumper pay day for energy companies.

In today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm scrabbling around on the pavement with feather expert, @andy6day.bsky.social. #countrydiary #naturewriting

I'm today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm scrabbling around on the pavement with feather expert, @andy6day.bsky.social. #countrydiary #naturewriting

BP’s profits have more than doubled because of the Iran War. Time for a windfall tax.

Morning Bluesky.

Non-political point but I think there is read-across - have had good response to this post here and X, almost everyone saying the reason is people priced out of top flight football. Comforting, simple, not correct. Because crowds are strong at ALL levels of football.

OH very tickled by the BBC headline there 'what does King Charles do...'

1/ So angry. First, this is what "elections have consequences" really looks like. In addition to big stuff like wars and Liberation Day tariffs, the whole vast US machinery of state is now working everywhere, on everything, to make the world worse in every way. Thanks guys.

The genius that is Banksy completely nailed it here

The wording of Kemi Badenoch’s motion commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/104...

An underpriced outcome among a lot of market and political analysis is a scenario where the US and Iranian sides each remain convinced that they have the upper hand and refuse to budge enough in a way that leads to months of stalemate punctuated by flashes of devastating violence

V interesting read on Iranian politics. www.ft.com/content/53a4... Iran’s hardliners clash over talks with US

This Athens street cat we met cared not for our chicanery.

'Last month, Tao teamed up with Tanya Klowden, an art historian at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, to explore the implications of AI for researchers and the world at large. They took mathematics as a test case, and urge society to adopt the technology but in a human-centric way.' 1/2

A study by Ukraine's military ombudsman found that soldiers deployed for over 40 days on front-line positions develop apathy and "stop caring whether they survive or not," kyivindependent.com/after-40-day...

BONUS EPISODE 💥 Naomi and CEO of Humanists UK Andrew Copson discuss: 🩼 How sabotage not votes ended the Terminally Ill Adults Bill ⚖️ Fresh impetus for Lords reform 🔮 The future of a new Bill 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/7tQa... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q... @andrewcopson.bsky.social

'In a social media post on 27 April, UKRI said that from 2028 to 2029, “funding will focus on fully open-access publishing and will no longer be available for hybrid open access”.' If releasing such major changes on LinkedIn is @ukri.org 's new comms policy, we need to talk about 'open' comms.

For every mum watching this grinding her teeth in sheer exhaustion, we see you and are fighting for you. Flamingos show why the fight for equal parenting matters. Join us Saturday 2nd May in Trafalgar Square at midday to call for paid parental leave for all parents. Share this if you are with us.

High streets become deserts. Meanwhile Amazon pays no tax.

Is it possible to have a productive economy almost entirely based on immensely wealthy people suing each other?

On the other hand they had a wonderful ballroom on The Titanic.

Morning. A good day to repost my evidently most controversial political opinion - that there is in fact a special relationship both ways between the US and UK. Clearly matters more to the UK. But for good and bad, there's also an expectation on the US side.

'If graduates are asked to supervise AI before having learnt the standards of the field, the result may be fluency without competence.' 'This is why the way universities deal with the disruptive force of AI is so essential.'

'Rather than a lack of effort from individual universities, the report identifies a “structural gap” – there is no effective system to coordinate action across a region, leaving institutions to tackle shared problems in isolation.' Well, marketise the system and it will try to work like a market.

'AI will be at the core of some exercises. For example, politics students in a course on voting behaviour will be told to choose an election and ask ChatGPT to explain the results.' 1/3

This would be poorly targeted and reduce supply, especially if interest rates rise. Just give people who need it cash and fund it through efficient taxation. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Not all new technologies last. Brushed nylon sheets, for example.

'Against a backdrop of growing alarm in government about the rise in youth unemployment in the UK, Resolution Foundation said the Neet rate for 18- to 24-year-olds had jumped from 13% in 2019 to 15% in 2025, leaving the UK with 900,000 Neets.'

'The poll, though small with just 326 participants, provides a vivid picture of the problems facing headteachers with crumbling, outdated buildings. One school leader said they lay awake at night worrying about the school fire doors. “I would say around 80% are non-compliant,” they said.'

Today’s @mortenmorland.bsky.social

Astonishing evidence discovered of the last moments of this man’s life as he fled the Pompeii eruption nearly 1,947 years ago bit.ly/4vWe4xM

Hmmm. So maybe all that great, inexplicably free, stuff on the internet such as Google Books, Scholar, Translate and even Search, was part of a long game to harvest data to monetise it in some way that involves ruining the data when they attempt to profit from it?

In case anyone is wondering...

Couples living in unmarried bliss want the same tax rights as married and civil partnered pairs bit.ly/4ucWB2g at the moment they have no rights - none. So the best tax advice is marry the one you love. Or civil partner them if you hate all the marriage baggage. But…

I preferred it when economic activity was boosted by employing one crew to dig holes, and another to fill them in again.

Not-so-Bella, Ciao! htsf.substack.com/p/not-so-bel...

The man who would be Farage’s Chancellor investigated by police over apparently foreign donation to his Conservative leadership campaign bit.ly/4cPTN4d

Trump wants to leave a legacy. We want him to do so sooner rather than later.

Fly on the wall: Ballroom, ballroom, ballroom your Majesty. Renewables, trees, clean air, Mr President. Ballroom, ballroom, oil your Majesty. Endangered species, organic farming, herbal remedies Mr President Ballroom, ballroom, borders your Majesty.

I’m in favour of the ballroom, provided we lock Trump in it, and take away his phone.

New @EmpirePodUK mini-series: Liberator of Latin America or infamous Dictator: Simón Bolívar vs The Spanish Empire

Having worked as a news and current affairs radio and TV journalist for many years, this explanation of the microphone set-up makes me smile. I learned so much from sound engineers over the years. The art of sound.

While Americans still treat the concept of "forever wars" as a historical anomaly, these kinds of conflicts that could stretch out from 15 to 30 years were often a routine occurrence in the history of most empires in the past.

The EU is considering sanctions against Israeli individuals and entities over allegations they helped Russia bypass sanctions by importing wheat taken from occupied areas of Ukraine, Haaretz reports.

"beautifully shaped performances, one after the other, by singers who were obviously so thoroughly inside the idiom as to be able to sing it unrehearsed with complete conviction and accuracy". Pretty stoked at this review of our Tallis-a-thon on Saturday! It was a total joy to be part of this.

Would (still) fill one of the Manchester skyscrapers with different sized fish at each level, one big shark at the top going down to lots of little bioluminescent ones at the bottom. If I was absolutely hellbent on breaking even I’d put a padel court on top

Third read: Rent control is one of the main issues coming up on the doorstep and the Greens are up for it. Don’t think Labour would ever actually go ahead with this, but it’s a remarkable useful time to be “raising” the idea.

“Leavitt out, girl”. As they’d say on Eastenders.

"An animal rights activist sentenced for criminal damage for trying to free a crayfish from a seafood restaurant has said she is the victim of a witch-hunt." Honestly, what an astonishing level of fuckwittage.

This is exaggerated; Ukraine isn’t really capable of “leading” an alliance. But it is branching out its alliances in a way that models the middle-power variable geometry Mark Carney suggested to replace an unreliable America. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/o...

Wealth is more equally distributed in Britain than in Sweden, Germany or the Netherlands – UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 www.ubs.com/global/en/we...

‘Quiet piggy’, ‘Good, I'm glad he's dead’,

Training people so that they can know when they’re being manipulated. What sorts of education and what sorts of research might assist that goal one wonders? Ah yes, doubling down on vocational skills.

"is there anything to be said for another think tank report on the nature of britishness?"

Writing a quiz. Seems timely to have a round of 'Who said it: Trump or Hitler?'

I'm dangerously close to experiencing patriotism

Johnson is the one suffering from a syndrome.

Keep getting my data centres and detention centres mixed up. Unfortunately they look pretty much the same and are both the symptom of a sick society.

Trump is trying his toxic beta-male handshake, and Charles is having absolutely none of it.

Whatever anyone's particular views on whether not there should be an inquiry, whipping Labour MPs to vote against would be a spectacularly stupid move politically, and a gift for Starmer's opponents. The arguments that he is hiding something would write themselves. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Have you considered that the green policy will have the end result that the world’s poorest will likely die, and this is environmentalism *of a sort*. Malthusianism, I think we could call it.

Two potential reads: 1. The government is worried that the cost of living hit from the war is going to be huge. This isn’t a step they’d take lightly. 2. This is Number Ten/Eleven signalling a further left turn to backbenchers to hang on. (1 & 2 can both be true). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Remember when the GOP accused Democrat health care plans as advocating ‘death panels’?

Alcohol in the House of Commons is like pay rises for MPs. It’s completely impossible to make the case for either without sounding out of touch.

'for no reason...' Aye, there's the rub.

Sometimes it feels like young people are either demonised for staying in — or going out. Connie Muttock, the head of policy at think-tank Centre for Young Lives, says: “We talk about the time children spend on their phones, but we don’t talk about alternatives.” as.ft.com/r/a6850871-f...

MPs are now considering carry-over motions to: • Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. • Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Watch live ⬇️ www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Unfortunately King Charles forgot to renew his ESTA and so will be spending his first evening in Alligator Alcatraz. www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

But if each country had a national activity, like they have a national bird, America’s would be violence. Even in their favourite sports.

If, like me, you love watching birds, do come along to my wild writing workshops in May at #Waresley Park in #Cambridgeshire. On 12 May, we'll be focusing on how to bring the birds that visit the spring-fed lake to life on the page: waresleyparkestate.co.uk/wild-writing... #naturewriting

Cannot recommend this book highly enough. I give it to everyone! Such a fantastic story and brilliantly written.

Cole Tomas Allen charged with attempting to assassinate Trump. Which raises the question, at what point does an assassination attempt manifest? 50 miles away, just thinking about it? Two floors?

Hey Bluesky. What is this lovely thing that also smells nice in my garden? (Don’t say a plant. Instant block)

It’s slightly better than “we will spend millions freezing the price you pay of this thing that has by default got rarer, thus meaning other poorer nations competing for it will have to pay more or starve” but I’m going to be honest that’s a low bar

Your regular reminder that SW1 discourse about boring issues can suddenly become incredibly important when there is disruption to fragile ecosystems news.sky.com/story/your-s...

Made a respectable looking mattar paneer.

If they had their way Trump and Hegseth would be racing down this road. (Thanks to @peterallison.net )

MPs are voting along party lines 90+% of the time. It’s only because of the stupid antiquity of our system that they have to do this by walking through certain lobbies (even as a fully functional electronic system was in place during COVID). That system causes some of them to hang around in bars.

I'm just about maxx-maxxedout. Time to move on, headline writers.

On Thursday, Warner Bros. shareholders agreed a $110bn takeover with Paramount Benjamin Clark explains what this deal could mean for the future of Hollywood, and in particular for one of America’s most important news networks: CNN

'Leaked plans to cut 600 jobs at the University of Nottingham have been described by union members as confirming their “worst fears”.' 1/2

'A Labour MP has been criticised by social media users after saying she was “unpersuaded” that more money should go to universities.' More money is not the only option. The same money plus more sane/less not-fit-for-purpose regulation/market would pump £££ into the system 'for free', for example.

American school children have.

The diagnosed autistic part of my brain: "We will follow this receipe exactly and without deviation, and panic if we are forced to make substitutions" The strongly suspected ADHD part of my brain : "That's what you think buddy. Buckle up for the ride. Hey what does this taste like, ah add it anyway"

The diagnosed autistic part of my brain: "We will follow this receipe exactly and without deviation, and panic if we are forced to make substitutions." The strongly suspected ADHD part of my: "That's what you think buddy. Buckle up for the ride. Hey what does this taste like, ah add it anyway".

Switching armed USSS magnetometer checkpoints for unarmed TSA people (A) robs airports and (B) reduces security in exactly this scenario. So, I think this is a dim idea. But thank you for the input.

Honestly, you could do a whole satc series based on uk special relationship

Except the political violence that Trump has pardoned of course.

Can we stop using the term "legitimate concerns" to cover for racism, xenophobia, and asshattery?

"We couldn't have got anywhere near them without Dian [Fossey]" - David Attenborough. He also reveals that he still dreams about this famous encounter. Very interesting article: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The View from Westminster newsletter comes from Athena Stavrou tonight. Free sign-up here independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Everton being a “tough place to go” is one of those truisms that defies any “fact” you want to thrown at it.

Fantastic to host @helenmiller.bsky.social @theifs.bsky.social launch of Challenging Inequalities: the findings of the Deaton Review tonight - policy star studded speakers but also audience!