Louise S
@louises.bsky.social
Academic teaching law (England and Wales) with obsessive interest in the subject, also general interest in books, philosophy, gaming, history, art. Views my own.
Magistrates convict a higher proportion of defendants than juries, so I hope they are also planning to build more prisons.
Imagine coming up with a proposal so stupid, so unworkable, so thoughtless, that it makes Robert Jenrick look sane by comparison.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
Only cases of alleged murder, rape or manslaughter will be decided by a jury under new proposals to cut court backlogs.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Magistrates convict a higher proportion of defendants than juries, so I hope they are also planning to build more prisons.
I’m reading Dame Elizabeth Lane’s autobiography Hear the Other Side. This remarkable woman was not only the first female High Court judge, but she also hired the first female judge’s clerk (on Lord Denning’s recommendation) and was the first female Bencher of an Inn of Court.
November 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I’m reading Dame Elizabeth Lane’s autobiography Hear the Other Side. This remarkable woman was not only the first female High Court judge, but she also hired the first female judge’s clerk (on Lord Denning’s recommendation) and was the first female Bencher of an Inn of Court.
I think I am playing Elden Ring and then looking for help online too much, as my iPad now auto corrects any misspelling beginning with E into Erd Tree. My emails are not going to make sense 😂
November 21, 2025 at 6:58 AM
I think I am playing Elden Ring and then looking for help online too much, as my iPad now auto corrects any misspelling beginning with E into Erd Tree. My emails are not going to make sense 😂
Reposted by Louise S
New post: Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s new report on the rule of law provides an excellent overview of the concept and of the many challenges it finds itself under in the UK today. But the rep…
publiclawforeveryone.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:17 AM
New post: Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
Reposted by Louise S
17 hours left and we just hit £9k! Please keep sharing and pledging!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/fli...
You are all wonderful and I can't wait to make this book for you!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/fli...
You are all wonderful and I can't wait to make this book for you!
November 20, 2025 at 6:43 AM
17 hours left and we just hit £9k! Please keep sharing and pledging!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/fli...
You are all wonderful and I can't wait to make this book for you!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/fli...
You are all wonderful and I can't wait to make this book for you!
Reposted by Louise S
New post
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
Proposals for radical reform of the UK’s asylum system raise a number of legal and constitutional issues, with respect both to the European Convention on Human Rights and the domestic principle of …
publiclawforeveryone.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
New post
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
I’m sure I read in a chancellor’s memoirs (maybe Roy Jenkins or Ken Clarke’s) that he wasn’t even allowed to walk to Parliament for the budget statement in case his demeanour gave a clue about the budget contents and set the markets flapping. Maybe we should go back to that.
Budget gossip and U-turns to blame for UK’s weak growth, says ex-Bank chief economist
Budget gossip and U-turns to blame for UK’s weak growth, says ex-Bank chief economist
Budget gossip and U-turns to blame for UK’s weak growth, says ex-Bank chief economist
www.independent.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I’m sure I read in a chancellor’s memoirs (maybe Roy Jenkins or Ken Clarke’s) that he wasn’t even allowed to walk to Parliament for the budget statement in case his demeanour gave a clue about the budget contents and set the markets flapping. Maybe we should go back to that.
I read a book in the ‘80s about a man who didn’t want to be part of the UK having nuclear weapons, so he declared his house and garden a separate country. After the past week’s government announcements, I think I’d like to do that.
November 17, 2025 at 6:51 AM
I read a book in the ‘80s about a man who didn’t want to be part of the UK having nuclear weapons, so he declared his house and garden a separate country. After the past week’s government announcements, I think I’d like to do that.
Reposted by Louise S
There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.
November 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.
There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.
November 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
There’s a line in the Slough House book Real Tigers - it’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing that it’s the hope that kills you that kills you. Kind of how I’m feeling about the government this morning.
Good piece in the Conversation about the Trump /BBC potential case. theconversation.com/trump-v-the-...
Trump v the BBC: a legal expert explains how the case could play out
Trump must meet set requirements to prove that the footage was actually defamatory.
theconversation.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Good piece in the Conversation about the Trump /BBC potential case. theconversation.com/trump-v-the-...
Reposted by Louise S
NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
edition.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:06 PM
NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Instead of constant soap opera nonsense I wish the papers would focus more on the bills that are being passed. On what is actually being changed (for better or worse). This and crystal ball gazing about the budget is all I see in my timeline. I know they think it’s what people want, but is it?
‘Paranoid’ Starmer’s leadership under threat – as PM’s aides turn on Wes Streeting trib.al/4888UJf
Starmer's leadership under threat - as PM's aides turn on Wes Streeting
Sir Keir Starmer was accused of 'extraordinary paranoia' amid rumours he is under threat of a leadership challenge
inews.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Instead of constant soap opera nonsense I wish the papers would focus more on the bills that are being passed. On what is actually being changed (for better or worse). This and crystal ball gazing about the budget is all I see in my timeline. I know they think it’s what people want, but is it?
Reposted by Louise S
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
Darn Tough turned me on to Cute Socks and I've never looked back
might fuck around and become a Cute Socks Guy
November 11, 2025 at 1:22 AM
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
Reposted by Louise S
As creators of educational, religious and charitable institutions, women of means found ways to circumvent the patriarchal power structures of medieval society.
Medieval women’s legacies live on in Britain’s towns and cities
As creators of educational, religious and charitable institutions, women of means found ways to circumvent the patriarchal power structures of medieval society.
tcnv.link
November 11, 2025 at 7:12 AM
As creators of educational, religious and charitable institutions, women of means found ways to circumvent the patriarchal power structures of medieval society.
I get fed up of the right wing nonsense about London. My family spent half-term in London, felt perfectly safe, enjoyed traveling round, seeing all sorts of sites and people, in a great atmosphere. I’m proud of London - it’s part of what makes this country great.
November 11, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I get fed up of the right wing nonsense about London. My family spent half-term in London, felt perfectly safe, enjoyed traveling round, seeing all sorts of sites and people, in a great atmosphere. I’m proud of London - it’s part of what makes this country great.
Reposted by Louise S
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Voting results from the AGM
Read about the National Trust's 2025 Annual General Meeting and the results from the day.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
November 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Louise S
This is a genuinely fascinating piece of research done by Sky on the sewer previously known as Twitter.
Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/
Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:08 AM
This is a genuinely fascinating piece of research done by Sky on the sewer previously known as Twitter.
Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/
Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/
I love these
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I love these
Reposted by Louise S
Nobody ever talks about how weird this was
![[Scene is a boardroom in the headquarters of the board game manufacturer, Parker Bros. The year is 1966]
1
[show exterior of a factory building with 'PARKER BROS BOARD GAMES' written on the top]
PARKER 1:
Ok brothers - a quick run through our manufacturing schedule...
2
[Switch to interior scene of the boardroom, in which the three Parker Brothers are having a meeting].
Parker 1:
So this year we'll be making: Monopoly, Cluedo, Risk, the portal to Hell thing,
Scrabble, and Tiddlywinks.
3
Parker 2:
What was that?
Parker 1:
Tiddlywinks!
Parker 2:
No the bit about Hell
4
Parker 1:
Ah yes - we're manufacturing ouija boards now
Parker 2:
What
5
Parker 2:
Parker… we make *board games*...
Parker 1:
Yes, Parker! And this is a great family board game which may or may not be a portal to the Other Place.
6
Parker 1:
You know, 2-6 players, summon a loved one, might be a daemon - great fun
7
Parker 2:
Whose idea was this?
Parker 1:
Well I believe it was... Mr Shimmer?
8
Parker 2:
Who is Mr Shimmer
[voice from off-scene]:
shimmmerrrrr...
9
[Cut to a figure who is also sat at the boardroom table. It is a horrifying eldritch wraith, eyeless, pale, with a gaping, hissing black mouth drawn open in a foul, silent, endless grimace]
Mr Shimmer:
*sssshimmmerrrrr*...
10
Parker 1:
Our new creative director! I met him at a seance, because it's 1966.
11
Parker 1:
Mr Shimmer says he hopes there may soon be a set in every home in the land!
12
Parker 1:
Come - shall we play?
[he shifts his body forward in his chair slightly, and we glimpse behind him the terrifying eyes of another demon sat behind him, a la this iconic bit in Insidious]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreidv33wk63t53zkipuqnv43g7ly5axykznx3nc2325vv6mrtztne4e@jpeg)
November 2, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Nobody ever talks about how weird this was
Reposted by Louise S
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Louise S
People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
October 22, 2025 at 8:32 AM
People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
This Robert Jenrick football nonsense - he’s trying to appeal to people my age with ‘it was great when you were young’ But we remember, football hooliganism was a national shame. Saying otherwise basically tells us we’re stupid for thinking it was a problem.
October 18, 2025 at 6:49 AM
This Robert Jenrick football nonsense - he’s trying to appeal to people my age with ‘it was great when you were young’ But we remember, football hooliganism was a national shame. Saying otherwise basically tells us we’re stupid for thinking it was a problem.
My husband has just put on Making Plans for Nigel and announced that in four years it will be 50 years old. No. Just stop it.
October 17, 2025 at 5:27 PM
My husband has just put on Making Plans for Nigel and announced that in four years it will be 50 years old. No. Just stop it.
Is it me or have spell checkers got significantly worse recently? I just typed ‘aite’ in a document and the spell checker gave me a list of words beginning with ‘a’ that I’ve never heard of instead of the obvious ’site’, because my finger just slipped and hit the wrong key.
October 17, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Is it me or have spell checkers got significantly worse recently? I just typed ‘aite’ in a document and the spell checker gave me a list of words beginning with ‘a’ that I’ve never heard of instead of the obvious ’site’, because my finger just slipped and hit the wrong key.