There is surely no greater tribute to David Marquand that the issues he grappled with so eloquently remain wholly relevant to British politics today. This is from his 1981 essay on 'club government'.

This is not an excluded basis of challenge under the new legislation. I can't see how this law can apply in the same way to all parts of the UK.

The soon-to-be Rwanda Act allows for virtually no challenge to the safety of Rwanda. A reminder, which Govt has consistently ignored: this can't be squared with EU law protections for asylum seekers which the UK is obliged not to diminish under Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.

Sigh.

What a situation to be in.

🧵1/ Unpacking the realpolitik behind parliamentary ping-pong on the Rwanda Bill: as MPs and Peers clash over legislative amendments, how credible are their claims about the political maneuvering of the other side? #RwandaBill #Politics #Realpolitik

The House of Lords can and should dig in on the Rwanda Bill. This is not a manifesto Bill. The human rights implications are stark. The implications for the UK's international commitments are real. The upper chamber has delaying powers for a night like tonight.

This degree of media attention on parliamentary ping-pong for a Bill is unusual. So important to stress that it is a standard, normal part of the legislative scrutiny process. What is unusual (historically, tho not in recent years) is the Govt's intransigent attitude to amdts.

Pleased to be doing this public lecture in Scotland on #PostOfficeScandal in May... strath.ac.uk/humanities/law…

Fun fact: Botswana’s Kanye district was previously divided into North and South constituencies, but boundary changes will replace them with Kanye East and Kanye West. Here is the actual text of the boundary commissioners’ report
iec.gov.bw/images/2022_De…

Loudly and drunkenly, Southsidegrrrl and Rachel McCormack.

Daniel Dennett (28th March 1942 - 19th April 2024)

RIP

Dennett on how to criticise wisely

Dreamt last night that Liz Truss had moved in two doors down from me and that her protection officers were insisting that everyone wore masks when walking past the house.

What is my subconscious trying to tell me?

This is a really interesting point.

Change is possible! largest most notorious deepfake sexual abuse website has blocked access to UK users. This follows announcement this week to criminalise creation as well as sharing. This has always been my main justification for using the criminal law theconversation.com/deepfake-porn-…

A new report by Aileen McHarg @[email protected] for Human Rights Consortium Scotland has set out the challenges in fully incorporating human rights duties after the Supreme Court's UNCRC decision, and recommends that the Scotland Act is amended to remove these unexpected limits.

Read more: alliance-scotland.org.uk/blog/news/repo…

No, *you* are an emotional wreck because it's your firstborn's last day at school.