Top recent posts by UK Constitutional Lawyers on Bluesky

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the Iran war: "The Americans clearly have no strategy... This whole affair is ill-considered, to say the least. At the moment, I cannot see what strategic exit the Americans are now opting for... An entire nation is being humiliated."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Iran: “At the moment, I cannot see what strategic exit the Americans are opting for. “The Iranians are negotiating very skilfully. Or rather, very skilfully not negotiating. “An entire nation (the US) is being humiliated.”

American school children have.

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

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.

People think that the 20 year rule is to keep a lid on politics, but it's actually the world's most sophisticated millennial torture device.

Iran has proposed an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war while delaying negotiations on its nuclear program to a later stage, Axios reports.

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.

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?

The fact that TSA agents were drafted in is a sign that the USSS was really strapped for personnel.

Still weaponising outrage. Melania Trump: “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy, his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. 1/

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

Have opted for a two cat setup today

People downloading unlicensed pirated copies of my books are thieves who are stealing from me. It's not as if I'm ungenerous. I have literally given my books away to free to people who genuinely need them and can't pay. But some of you are supporting malware bandits by downloading "free" stuff

I'm rereading an account of the Brexit years from the point of view of a negotiator and it brings back the painful memory of just how appallingly the UK side handled this, something to which the lead official as well as the politicians should be blamed.

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...

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

Do read @bhgreeley.bsky.social's FAB piece on the petrodollar (1st 300 clicks free to read) as.ft.com/r/92ef3e7b-7...

the water wars are picking up. One to bookmark.

🚨🚨 #brexit "Those red lines were the right approach in 2024. .. But world events have moved more quickly than any of us could have expected so our ambition for the EU relationship needs to change too. At the very least, we need to have a conversation about membership." @marshadecordova.bsky.social

High streets become deserts. Meanwhile Amazon pays no tax.

After 14 years of negotiations, 🇲🇪🇪🇺 are closer than ever. Last week, a historic step has been taken to approve a working group to draft Montenegro's accession treaty — the first such step since Croatia joined in 2013. Here's where the process stands 👇

If there is one world historical legacy that JD Vance and Pete Hegseth leave behind it could end up being so needlessly offensive that they turn British nationalists into European nationalists

In the UK (and not just the UK) university sector, we're living, working, thinking and being made redundant (sic) with and by emergencies. Join Wendy Brown, Margot Finn, Eva von Redecker and Sasha Roseneil, convened by Paul Gilroy and John Sabapathy, for 'Learning in Emergency States'. 5 June. 1/2

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

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

if you missed it over the weekend, @bhgreeley.bsky.social's essay on the dollar is as good as everyone says. as.ft.com/r/00ba67d9-c...

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

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.

Another Labour MP calling for consideration of EU membership - as well from showing some growing momentum in this direction, also a sign of waning Number 10 influence in controlling the policy agenda. labourlist.org/2026/04/labo...

"How dare you sit next to me on the sofa, human."

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

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.

Made a respectable looking mattar paneer.

By any US standard, a single pistol and a single shotgun does not constitute "an arsenal" and likely describes the inventory of tens of millions of households

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.

Yeah, I could never date someone who supported the 1832 Act.

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

Yes. I live and work in London. Yes, I lived and worked in Washington, including 12 years at the White House. I’m 57 years old and that’s plenty of time for both statements to be true. Some of you have an oversimplified view of life

On Westminster drinking: I started my career 20 years ago, when excessive drinking and bad behaviour at work parties was fairly normal - even celebrated. Over the years that has massively changed. And now when I engage with Westminster I find it very old fashioned in that respect.

Sneak preview of King Charles’ gift for Trump.

"Ukrainian forces struck three Russian ships, a fighter jet, and other targets in Russian-occupied Crimea overnight on April 26, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported." kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-...

The Commons Speaker has allowed a debate and vote to go ahead tomorrow on whether the PM should be investigated by the Privileges Committee. So what is the Committee and what is the process?

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

This improvement in Parisian air and noise quality, according to a quick Gemini search*, is worth ~€1500 a year to the typical inhabitant of the city proper, or €2bn a year. What I'm going on about here: open.substack.com/pub/gileswil... *So treat with caution

Emily Maitlis - 'Horrible' Lewis Goodall - 'A complete numpty' Jon Sopel - 'Possibly the worst journalist of all time' Says Mike Graham. Yes, really. @thenewsagents.co.uk www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND90...

I'm sure everyone this side of the Atlantic will breathe a sigh of relief when the King is safely back in Britain. We should never put him (or any other Royals) in front of Trump again.

Worth noting that the Sitzkrieg was then followed by a Blitzkrieg and another 5 years of devastating global warfare

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.

Hello - if you're a scientific researcher or academic who is being impacted by this shift or any of the others where pricing is going up, I want to talk to you

BlueSky is not an “American only” platform

'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.

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"

Deeply saddened to hear of Senator Don Riegle's passing. He was exceptionally kind to me - took me on a personal tour of his home town of Flint, showed my parents around Congress, always suggesting ideas and encouragement. He embodied American kindness and decency. www.newsweek.com/donald-riegl...

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

This resonated. As someone who had to watch a parent fade painfully away with dementia for ten years, I have no intention of doing the same. So for me (and as Stephen points out for many), the Bill doesn't far enough. Indeed, ironically, the only reason I support it is the slippery slope argument.

'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.

Someone has stolen my Diet Coke out of the fridge

Today’s @mortenmorland.bsky.social

Afternoon.

🇪🇺🇺🇸 The EU and the US launched a strategic partnership on critical minerals and agreed on an EU–US Critical Minerals Action Plan. 👉 Reliable and sustainable access to critical minerals is essential for the EU economy to stay competitive and strong. link.europa.eu/G77kFb

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

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

'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.

Clearly when you are paying several hundred pounds a year for children’s dance lessons it makes perfect sense to then have to pay another £55 to take the rest of the family to their dance show.

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

Dig deep. It's for a good cause. www.justgiving.com/page/dan-kas...

With regards to the Washington Hilton situation, people appear to have ignorance of or blatant disregard to the resources that the USSS can bring to bear on any one event.

My Charlemagne this week is The Road to Economic Serfdom, or how EU red tape worsened its dependency on America. Part of the reason we Europeans rely on Google, Visa etc is because they have no local equivalent. And that's in part due to the EU's regulatory zeal. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

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

Morning Bluesky.

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...

No surprise, but I've just learned former news presenter Colin Brazier joined Reform UK about 6 weeks ago.

meanwhile, in the third decade of the 21st century, I note that we have still not fixed jetlag and this is a sub-optimal state of affairs. Why yes it did take me bloody hours to fall asleep, which meant I was dead to the world at 8am and now feel like death.

Something happening in non-league football in the often-forgotten about places of the country. Around 100,000 watched games in the National League and its two regional divisions on Saturday (tier 5 and 6). Games in the Level 7 Northern Premier League averaged 1,500 spectators

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...

We went with Steve, by the way. And he’s amazing.

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...

Found a surprise pound coin in the locker at the swimming pool. Having read so much situational ethics I was expecting a powerful mood boost. But nothing.

It's not just about mining or other forms of resource extraction, it's also that JNIM and the FLA are hitting and in some cases holding key nodal points in transport routes and supply chains crucial to supplying and paying for the viability of Bamako as a major urban centre

Overheard yesterday: one person said they hadn't driven to the match in case they were still over the limit and another replied they'd worked in construction for a decade and it was zero tolerance on alcohol and drugs. Came home to the MPs and drinks discourse.

Future historians looking for the 'intellectual' origins of the Reform-Tory government might want to bookmark this.

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

Writing a piece for a monthly is quite a fun challenge. “What can I say about the global economy and the Strait today that will be still be interesting and true in four weeks’ time” is good discipline.

the seminar with wine before questions, the first night conference mixer event in the local pub, the promise of turning wine into Prosecco for the finalist social of the NSS turnout is good, the clinking bottom drawer in a thousand academic offices

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.

Maybe we should just rename the role from Member of Parliament to "Manager of the Local Advice Centre".

'Artificial intelligence is transforming grant writing. A new wave of AI tools, known as agents, can now generate a research grant application, review it and submit it.' Want to get a grip on this issue? Hint, don't sack all your Philosophers/close down their departments. Ethics is relevant here.

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

In case anyone is wondering...

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

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.

Lisa, just exactly what age do you want them to be? It's not exactly an old man's job. I was 39 when I left the USSS and I felt broken down.

Okay BlueSky i need a couple of new desktop background images. Give me ideas. Human artists or photographers only. Sweeping scifi/fantasy scenes or city photos at night etc. that kind of thing.

Once again I want to be watching the Durham-Lancashire live stream this afternoon but am instead having to work in order to be able to purchase goods and services.

"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.

1. Voter suppression can win elections. 2. Candidates for the same party in different places can have wildly different policies. 3. Spending on individual candidates is a big deal.

I’m making a bbc show focused on teenager finances. Looking to speak to teens about their finances - maybe one who manages their own junior isa, one who runs a business, one who is working FT or weekends. Or just any teens who have thoughts about money! [email protected]

Just returning to this report. Reflects a trend to see trade into a branch of security. And in my opinion this is a hugely dangerous approach globally, and a waste of any influence you may have as a mid-sized economy to push for restored trust that would better support prosperity.

my actual daughter and her very talented pals made this and no, no one is making a living here but aren't they brilliant www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9F8...