15th August 2023 There is an old Hebrew proverb which can be roughly translated as: What is the difference between a wise person and a clever person? A clever person …

A note of caution for those clapping and cheering at the latest indictment of Donald Trump

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 8 August 2023 English

8th August 2023 (Picture credit.) * The former president of the United States is facing serious legal trouble, with a serious criminal indictment which takes seriously his role in the …

Witch-hunt (noun)

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 2 August 2023 English

2nd August 2023 A future historian, tasked with working out from contemporaneous sources what ‘witch-hunt’ meant in 2023, would conclude it meant a slow methodical and evidence-based process, with full …

Sir Keir Starmer and the Litigation Turn of Mind

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 31 July 2023 English

31st July 2023 The leader of the opposition is a former litigator, and many litigators have a certain strategy – or at least a set of tactics: a certain cautious …

The value of X – making sense of a re-branding, from a lawyer’s perspective

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 26 July 2023 English

26th July 2023 * Much – most – of the commentary about what Elon Musk is doing with the social media platform previously known as Twitter focuses on his personal …

Why the Northern Irish Border Poll of 1973 was both unimportant and profoundly important

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 19 July 2023 English

19th July 2023 (This post is a long excerpt from a fuller post at the Empty City substack for paying subscribers.) * This post is about the border poll that …

A close reading of Twitter’s legal letter to Meta: a guided tour of a weak litigation letter

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 7 July 2023 English

7th July 2023 This is a close reading and exposition of the letter sent on behalf of Twitter to Mark Zuckerberg, the chairman and chief executive officer of Meta. The …

Threads – remembering an influential moment in that 1984 film

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 6 July 2023 English

6 July 2023 Threads is the the social media platform of the day. (My Threads account is here – and the early impressions are positive, though further functionality needs to …

A modest proposal for helping the Prime Minister “keep on top of government” and “to push priorities”

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 3 July 2023 English

3rd July 2023 Over on Twitter, the estimable Dr Cath Haddon is live-tweeting a talk from a former cabinet minister to the Institute of Government: Here is an idea for …

Why the United Kingdom government cannot leave the ECHR without either breaching or re-negotiating the Good Friday Agreement

Individual Contributors to Policy Commons · 1 July 2023 English

1st July 2023 * The overlooked obstacle to the United Kingdom withdrawing from the ECHR * From time to time the demand comes from a government minister, or from one …