Philip Murray
@philipmurray.bsky.social
Law lecturer @robinsoncollege.bsky.social / @cambridgelaw.bsky.social.
I carry no can for Sir Keir, but I think the prime minister is an invidious position on this. Trying to minimise the unpredictable wrath of the president in the hope that the Supreme Court rules the tariffs unlawful does not seem to me to be an unreasonable response. He's walking a tightrope here.
Weak, weak, weak. This appeasement must end.
Starmer should be uniting with our allies against Trump's threats, not splitting off to suck up to him.
Starmer should be uniting with our allies against Trump's threats, not splitting off to suck up to him.
January 19, 2026 at 11:44 AM
I carry no can for Sir Keir, but I think the prime minister is an invidious position on this. Trying to minimise the unpredictable wrath of the president in the hope that the Supreme Court rules the tariffs unlawful does not seem to me to be an unreasonable response. He's walking a tightrope here.
This is great news for Cambridge, but only serves to remind us how precarious the palliative care sector is. It couldn't be a more dangerous time to be introducing assisted suicide. How about using public funds to properly resource hospices instead? premium.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/communi...
Community support enables 12-month reprieve for Arthur Rank Hospice beds that faced closure due to NHS funding cuts
Cambridge University Hospitals ended £829,000 contract - but donations have poured in to charity.
premium.cambridgeindependent.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 11:22 AM
This is great news for Cambridge, but only serves to remind us how precarious the palliative care sector is. It couldn't be a more dangerous time to be introducing assisted suicide. How about using public funds to properly resource hospices instead? premium.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/communi...
Reposted by Philip Murray
Trump 1.0 was Julius Caesar
Trump 2.0 is King Lear
And everyone watching in Congress is Hamlet
Trump 2.0 is King Lear
And everyone watching in Congress is Hamlet
I see that King Lear is on the Royal Exchange this year. "Lear is a searing portrait of a king unable to distinguish truth from lies. As the storm rises and night falls, language, identity and meaning break down completely." www.royalexchange.co.uk/event/king-l...
January 19, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Trump 1.0 was Julius Caesar
Trump 2.0 is King Lear
And everyone watching in Congress is Hamlet
Trump 2.0 is King Lear
And everyone watching in Congress is Hamlet
Realistically we can only hope that SCOTUS will come to our aid, the sooner the better. A big test for the United States’ highest court.
January 19, 2026 at 10:15 AM
Realistically we can only hope that SCOTUS will come to our aid, the sooner the better. A big test for the United States’ highest court.
Reposted by Philip Murray
mad king moment
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
![NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbpefio3f5csc44msmbgioxz/bafkreie7itpptx3xbxhpsnlaqmwk752h7pcrion5ija2apksljtax2adx4@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 5:09 AM
mad king moment
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
Reposted by Philip Murray
It's not the biggest issue today, but this statement should be given in Parliament.
This isn't fuddy-duddyism. It allows MPs to ask questions, puts other parties on the record, and, most importantly, doesn't allow a PM to pick the audience: a power that Starmer does not abuse, but future PMs will.
This isn't fuddy-duddyism. It allows MPs to ask questions, puts other parties on the record, and, most importantly, doesn't allow a PM to pick the audience: a power that Starmer does not abuse, but future PMs will.
January 19, 2026 at 9:02 AM
It's not the biggest issue today, but this statement should be given in Parliament.
This isn't fuddy-duddyism. It allows MPs to ask questions, puts other parties on the record, and, most importantly, doesn't allow a PM to pick the audience: a power that Starmer does not abuse, but future PMs will.
This isn't fuddy-duddyism. It allows MPs to ask questions, puts other parties on the record, and, most importantly, doesn't allow a PM to pick the audience: a power that Starmer does not abuse, but future PMs will.
Reposted by Philip Murray
"In Defence of Classical Administrative Law", by @philipmurraylaw and me, has now been published in the Cambridge Law Journal on FirstView. It is available via the following link (open access): doi.org/10.1017/S000...
December 16, 2025 at 11:49 AM
"In Defence of Classical Administrative Law", by @philipmurraylaw and me, has now been published in the Cambridge Law Journal on FirstView. It is available via the following link (open access): doi.org/10.1017/S000...
Delighted to express my support for the #SaveTheVetSchool campaign. It would be dreadful decision for @cam.ac.uk to abolish one of the best (if not the best) undergraduate Veterinary Medicine degrees in the world. savethevetschool.co.uk
Save the Vet School
A vital institution. A community in action. A future worth protecting. Stand with us to save the vet school.
savethevetschool.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Delighted to express my support for the #SaveTheVetSchool campaign. It would be dreadful decision for @cam.ac.uk to abolish one of the best (if not the best) undergraduate Veterinary Medicine degrees in the world. savethevetschool.co.uk
Reposted by Philip Murray
📣We have issued a new @ssrn.bsky.social Legal Studies RPS (v16 #5) including articles by @raffaelfasel.bsky.social, @philipmurray.bsky.social, Kathy Liddell & Matteo Aboy:
🔗https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2025/11/legal-studies-research-paper-series-vol-16-no-5
🔗https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2025/11/legal-studies-research-paper-series-vol-16-no-5
December 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
📣We have issued a new @ssrn.bsky.social Legal Studies RPS (v16 #5) including articles by @raffaelfasel.bsky.social, @philipmurray.bsky.social, Kathy Liddell & Matteo Aboy:
🔗https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2025/11/legal-studies-research-paper-series-vol-16-no-5
🔗https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2025/11/legal-studies-research-paper-series-vol-16-no-5
Reposted by Philip Murray
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
Reposted by Philip Murray
“THE KING has been pleased by Warrant under His Royal Sign Manual dated 30 October 2025 to direct His Secretary of State to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage with immediate effect.” thegazette.co.uk/notice/4992105
Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual
thegazette.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:19 PM
“THE KING has been pleased by Warrant under His Royal Sign Manual dated 30 October 2025 to direct His Secretary of State to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage with immediate effect.” thegazette.co.uk/notice/4992105
Reposted by Philip Murray
NEW
An instance of the royal prerogative
Why an Act of Parliament was not needed to remove the title from the former Duke of York
By me
Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/an-instanc...
Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/an-i...
An instance of the royal prerogative
Why an Act of Parliament was not needed to remove the title from the former Duke of York
By me
Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/an-instanc...
Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/an-i...
An instance of the royal prerogative
Why an Act of Parliament was not needed to remove the title from the former Duke of York
emptycity.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 8:57 AM
NEW
An instance of the royal prerogative
Why an Act of Parliament was not needed to remove the title from the former Duke of York
By me
Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/an-instanc...
Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/an-i...
An instance of the royal prerogative
Why an Act of Parliament was not needed to remove the title from the former Duke of York
By me
Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/an-instanc...
Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/an-i...
Removal from the Roll of Peerage might deprive someone of the precedence and forms of address attaching to a peerage, but legally that person is still a peer. And removal from the roll does not stop a prince being a prince.
Prince Andrew CAN renounce his peerage without an Act of Parliament
Reports have suggested there is no easy way to remove or renounce the title of Duke of York - but a little-known mechanism could effectively do so easily and immediately
nigelfletcher.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Removal from the Roll of Peerage might deprive someone of the precedence and forms of address attaching to a peerage, but legally that person is still a peer. And removal from the roll does not stop a prince being a prince.
A constitutional question: maintaining the roll of the peerage is the responsibility of a government minister, viz the Lord Chancellor. It's maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Is the King able independently to instruct the Lord Chancellor to remove someone from the roll, or can he only do so...
October 31, 2025 at 9:55 AM
A constitutional question: maintaining the roll of the peerage is the responsibility of a government minister, viz the Lord Chancellor. It's maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Is the King able independently to instruct the Lord Chancellor to remove someone from the roll, or can he only do so...
Reposted by Philip Murray
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
It’s regularly said that when Parliament excludes judicial review, it does something so constitutionally intolerable that the courts can legitimately resist such efforts. The history of English administrative law tells a different story.
The article will be published by the Law Quarterly Review next summer, but a draft as accepted for publication can now be read on SSRN. We hope you enjoy it! Here's the link to the article: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Ouster Clauses and the Common Law: a Historical Reappraisal
This article traces the development of English administrative law's approach to ouster clauses, re-assessing the idea that ouster clauses have always been treat
papers.ssrn.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:31 AM
It’s regularly said that when Parliament excludes judicial review, it does something so constitutionally intolerable that the courts can legitimately resist such efforts. The history of English administrative law tells a different story.
I'm glad to share a new article from me and Paul Warchuk from the University of New Brunswick on the history of ouster clauses and the common law. We trace the law's approach to ouster clauses over 300 years, re-assessing the idea that ousters have always been considered constitutionally repugnant.
October 28, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I'm glad to share a new article from me and Paul Warchuk from the University of New Brunswick on the history of ouster clauses and the common law. We trace the law's approach to ouster clauses over 300 years, re-assessing the idea that ousters have always been considered constitutionally repugnant.
Reposted by Philip Murray
I agree with Joshua that this intervention is by the Human Rights Commissioner is spectacularly badly timed.
At a moment where two of the four largest political parties in the UK are advocating an exit from the Convention system, his criticisms seem tin eared.
At a moment where two of the four largest political parties in the UK are advocating an exit from the Convention system, his criticisms seem tin eared.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner has intervened in a series of criminal prosecutions currently before the courts of England and Wales.
rozenberg.substack.com/p/policing-p...
rozenberg.substack.com/p/policing-p...
Policing protest prosecutions
Council of Europe human rights commissioner seeks to lay down the law
rozenberg.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:40 AM
I agree with Joshua that this intervention is by the Human Rights Commissioner is spectacularly badly timed.
At a moment where two of the four largest political parties in the UK are advocating an exit from the Convention system, his criticisms seem tin eared.
At a moment where two of the four largest political parties in the UK are advocating an exit from the Convention system, his criticisms seem tin eared.
@robinsoncollege.bsky.social are looking for a new Junior Research Fellow from a variety of humanities and social sciences, including law. Join us! www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/about-robins...
Isaac Newton/College Junior Research Fellowship 2026 | Robinson College
www.robinson.cam.ac.uk
October 15, 2025 at 8:24 AM
@robinsoncollege.bsky.social are looking for a new Junior Research Fellow from a variety of humanities and social sciences, including law. Join us! www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/about-robins...
Reposted by Philip Murray
A new paper from Philip Murray and me: 'In Defence of Classical Administrative Law'. We argue that the voidness of unlawful administrative acts is central to the rule of law and that recent challenges to that view can and should be resisted.
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/09/16/i...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/09/16/i...
In Defence of Classical Administrative Law
In a recently completed paper, Philip Murray and I develop a defence of what we term the classical account of administrative law. The question with which we are centrally concerned is whether (as t…
publiclawforeveryone.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:17 PM
A new paper from Philip Murray and me: 'In Defence of Classical Administrative Law'. We argue that the voidness of unlawful administrative acts is central to the rule of law and that recent challenges to that view can and should be resisted.
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/09/16/i...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/09/16/i...
Reposted by Philip Murray
"A single human soul is worth more than the whole universe of material goods. There is nothing higher than the immortal soul, save God. With respect to the eternal destiny of the soul, society exists for each person and is subordinated to it." — Jacques Maritain, The Person and the Common Good
September 3, 2025 at 8:33 AM
"A single human soul is worth more than the whole universe of material goods. There is nothing higher than the immortal soul, save God. With respect to the eternal destiny of the soul, society exists for each person and is subordinated to it." — Jacques Maritain, The Person and the Common Good
Reposted by Philip Murray
We do not live in a tyranny. Using armed officers to arrest a man at an airport over a series of tweets is the sort of thing one would expect to happen in Russia or North Korea.
People will remember this when the police next claim to be under resourced.
People will remember this when the police next claim to be under resourced.
September 3, 2025 at 5:22 AM
We do not live in a tyranny. Using armed officers to arrest a man at an airport over a series of tweets is the sort of thing one would expect to happen in Russia or North Korea.
People will remember this when the police next claim to be under resourced.
People will remember this when the police next claim to be under resourced.
Reposted by Philip Murray
Reflecting on the Graham Lineham story this morning, unless there is something more that hasn’t been reported, assuming that the Met Police was responsible for this ‘operation’ I think the Commissioner should resign.
September 3, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Reflecting on the Graham Lineham story this morning, unless there is something more that hasn’t been reported, assuming that the Met Police was responsible for this ‘operation’ I think the Commissioner should resign.
