Iain Hallam
@iainhallam.bsky.social
Musician, photographer and Web/IT specialist in Bristol
www.iainhallam.com
@iainhallam@mstdn.social
www.iainhallam.com
@iainhallam@mstdn.social
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Jo Cox was murdered before the vote by a far-right terrorist & this is the language this complete disgrace chooses to use
December 20, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Jo Cox was murdered before the vote by a far-right terrorist & this is the language this complete disgrace chooses to use
Reposted by Iain Hallam
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
December 12, 2025 at 4:00 AM
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
UK 1980s children's TV disagrees...
October 25, 2025 at 2:07 AM
UK 1980s children's TV disagrees...
Reposted by Iain Hallam
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Did you know that if you buy my book on Amazon, Jeff Bezos makes 5 times as much as I do on each copy sold? Sharing some behind-the-scenes book math on why buying directly from presses is best for EVERYONE (except Bezos) in my newsletter today! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/book-math
October 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Did you know that if you buy my book on Amazon, Jeff Bezos makes 5 times as much as I do on each copy sold? Sharing some behind-the-scenes book math on why buying directly from presses is best for EVERYONE (except Bezos) in my newsletter today! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/book-math
Reposted by Iain Hallam
If, as seems likely at this stage, to use the technical terminology, Labour gets its arse handed to them by Reform at the next election, it will not be the fault of voters who moved to more progressive parties, or the media, it's all on Labour and their own rhetoric and policies. No-one else. 21/
September 3, 2025 at 10:15 AM
If, as seems likely at this stage, to use the technical terminology, Labour gets its arse handed to them by Reform at the next election, it will not be the fault of voters who moved to more progressive parties, or the media, it's all on Labour and their own rhetoric and policies. No-one else. 21/
Reposted by Iain Hallam
A suggestion for UK Parliament. Before passing any new law, consider plausible worst case scenario for how a future Reform government would use it. Then start to review existing laws. And if you don’t, don’t complain when it all goes wrong (assuming that government hasn’t locked you all up)
September 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
A suggestion for UK Parliament. Before passing any new law, consider plausible worst case scenario for how a future Reform government would use it. Then start to review existing laws. And if you don’t, don’t complain when it all goes wrong (assuming that government hasn’t locked you all up)
Reposted by Iain Hallam
That’s how censorship operates in the USA (and many places) government pressure is used to force people & groups to self-censor.
It’s a constant pattern:
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal
It’s a constant pattern:
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal
Gentle reminder that in the late '50s, the U.S. government did not censor comics. Comics companies censored themselves.
Not sure why that crossed my mind today but there it is...
Not sure why that crossed my mind today but there it is...
September 19, 2025 at 9:21 AM
That’s how censorship operates in the USA (and many places) government pressure is used to force people & groups to self-censor.
It’s a constant pattern:
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal
It’s a constant pattern:
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Re that last repost (from @davidallengreen.bsky.social) - I’ve been reflecting lately that the stuff we did in History at school on the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution missed the real point. It had its flaws, but the real problem was a lack of will to defend democracy and the rule of law.
September 18, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Re that last repost (from @davidallengreen.bsky.social) - I’ve been reflecting lately that the stuff we did in History at school on the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution missed the real point. It had its flaws, but the real problem was a lack of will to defend democracy and the rule of law.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
NEW
What the Palestine Action proscription tells us about UK terrorism law
On the difficulties of prohibiting and policing ‘expressions of opinion and belief’
By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
What the Palestine Action proscription tells us about UK terrorism law
On the difficulties of prohibiting and policing ‘expressions of opinion and belief’
By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
What the Palestine Action proscription tells us about UK terrorism law
On the difficulties of prohibiting and policing ‘expressions of opinion and belief’
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
September 12, 2025 at 11:25 AM
NEW
What the Palestine Action proscription tells us about UK terrorism law
On the difficulties of prohibiting and policing ‘expressions of opinion and belief’
By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
What the Palestine Action proscription tells us about UK terrorism law
On the difficulties of prohibiting and policing ‘expressions of opinion and belief’
By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Both the Lucy Connolly and the Epping hotel cases have now taken on a political-media existence of their own, unconnected with what actually happened in court.
It doesn't matter there were published sentencing remarks in one and a judge-prepared summary in the other.
People want stories instead.
It doesn't matter there were published sentencing remarks in one and a judge-prepared summary in the other.
People want stories instead.
August 31, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Both the Lucy Connolly and the Epping hotel cases have now taken on a political-media existence of their own, unconnected with what actually happened in court.
It doesn't matter there were published sentencing remarks in one and a judge-prepared summary in the other.
People want stories instead.
It doesn't matter there were published sentencing remarks in one and a judge-prepared summary in the other.
People want stories instead.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
As another ex government lawyer, I agree. It’s so frustrating that, despite sympathetic noises, the current government hasn’t legislated to put in place guardrails eg on Lords & other appointments, conduct and ethics, conflicts of interest etc. And hasn’t really tackled over/use of secondary legn
August 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
As another ex government lawyer, I agree. It’s so frustrating that, despite sympathetic noises, the current government hasn’t legislated to put in place guardrails eg on Lords & other appointments, conduct and ethics, conflicts of interest etc. And hasn’t really tackled over/use of secondary legn
Reposted by Iain Hallam
I suspect that somewhere - in Tufton St or elsewhere - there is now a spreadsheet of all the Henry VIII clauses with proposals with what can be done with them.
August 27, 2025 at 1:19 PM
I suspect that somewhere - in Tufton St or elsewhere - there is now a spreadsheet of all the Henry VIII clauses with proposals with what can be done with them.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
NEW
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
By me
Substack:
emptycity.substack.com/p/yes-an-inc...
Personal blog:
davidallengreen.com/2025/08/yes-...
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
By me
Substack:
emptycity.substack.com/p/yes-an-inc...
Personal blog:
davidallengreen.com/2025/08/yes-...
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
27th August 2025 Only good fortune has prevented previous governments from misusing our constitutional arrangements more than they did * The constitution of the United Kingdom provides for two R…
davidallengreen.com
August 27, 2025 at 9:46 AM
NEW
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
By me
Substack:
emptycity.substack.com/p/yes-an-inc...
Personal blog:
davidallengreen.com/2025/08/yes-...
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
By me
Substack:
emptycity.substack.com/p/yes-an-inc...
Personal blog:
davidallengreen.com/2025/08/yes-...
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
August 26, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
Reposted by Iain Hallam
It's truly shocking that Starmer is not proudly defending the HRA and the ECHR. The Right will always attack him over his historical support so he needs to stand by what he used to believe in.
August 26, 2025 at 1:19 PM
It's truly shocking that Starmer is not proudly defending the HRA and the ECHR. The Right will always attack him over his historical support so he needs to stand by what he used to believe in.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
There have always been Trumps, as there have always been Johnsons and Farages. None are particularly complex or interesting characters. What needs understanding is how the barriers that shut them out have collapsed, and why - in the case of the first two - established parties have knelt before them.
August 22, 2025 at 8:34 PM
There have always been Trumps, as there have always been Johnsons and Farages. None are particularly complex or interesting characters. What needs understanding is how the barriers that shut them out have collapsed, and why - in the case of the first two - established parties have knelt before them.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Letter of the day (in the Times)
August 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Letter of the day (in the Times)
Reposted by Iain Hallam
The thing about Rachel Reeves I really don’t understand is a seeming total lack of interest in system-wide tax reform. UK tax system is riddled with cruft, Labour needs money, UK needs growth.
This is a brilliant and fun column by @chrisgiles.ft.com that uses EV subsidies and salary sacrifice to explain a big flaw in our tax system.
How EV subsidies are taking the UK back to the 1970s
A cautionary tale about good intentions messing up the tax system
www.ft.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
The thing about Rachel Reeves I really don’t understand is a seeming total lack of interest in system-wide tax reform. UK tax system is riddled with cruft, Labour needs money, UK needs growth.
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Daily Mail: "Ban this stuff!"
Organised Crime: "Yes, please! Ban This Stuff!"
Organised Crime: "Yes, please! Ban This Stuff!"
August 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Daily Mail: "Ban this stuff!"
Organised Crime: "Yes, please! Ban This Stuff!"
Organised Crime: "Yes, please! Ban This Stuff!"
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Our Terry Pratchett quote of this particular day, which speaks for itself
#gnuterrypratchett #discworld #thud #vimes #booksky
#gnuterrypratchett #discworld #thud #vimes #booksky
August 1, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Our Terry Pratchett quote of this particular day, which speaks for itself
#gnuterrypratchett #discworld #thud #vimes #booksky
#gnuterrypratchett #discworld #thud #vimes #booksky
Reposted by Iain Hallam
A number of people have said ‘you don’t like the Online Safety Act - what’s *your* solution?’
My answer to that is ‘solution to what?’ The biggest problem with the Online Safety Act is that it claims to deal with a lot of disparate, disconnected and often very vague problems. 🧵 1/6
My answer to that is ‘solution to what?’ The biggest problem with the Online Safety Act is that it claims to deal with a lot of disparate, disconnected and often very vague problems. 🧵 1/6
July 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
A number of people have said ‘you don’t like the Online Safety Act - what’s *your* solution?’
My answer to that is ‘solution to what?’ The biggest problem with the Online Safety Act is that it claims to deal with a lot of disparate, disconnected and often very vague problems. 🧵 1/6
My answer to that is ‘solution to what?’ The biggest problem with the Online Safety Act is that it claims to deal with a lot of disparate, disconnected and often very vague problems. 🧵 1/6
Reposted by Iain Hallam
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
@adapalmer.bsky.social will there be a paperback of Inventing the Renaissance?
July 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
@adapalmer.bsky.social will there be a paperback of Inventing the Renaissance?
Reposted by Iain Hallam
Converting explicit legal and constitutional guarantees into mere conventions and customs is a devious and dangerous form of politics.
Birthright citizenship is a "longstanding custom" in the same way that freedom of speech is a longstanding custom (they are both explicitly guaranteed by the text of the Constitution)
not to be the flyspeck nyt copy as if it's the most important thing guy, but seriously wtf is this?
July 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Converting explicit legal and constitutional guarantees into mere conventions and customs is a devious and dangerous form of politics.