Two for the Price of One
Sorry I haven't posted here for a little while. I have decided to split my blog into two. This one will continue with my political commentary on current events and general ramblings about the world,...
View ArticleSome Tennis Players are More Equal than Others
I know this is a few days late but I want to talk about Wimbledon. Congratulations to Amelie Mauresmo who was awarded £625,000 for winning the women's singles, and to Roger Federer who won £655,000 for...
View ArticleDial 1 for Democracy
Regular readers of my blog will know that I occasionally like to discuss important constitutional issues. Therefore, today I am going to write about Nikki's eviction from Big Brother on Friday...
View ArticleHow to make $10,000,000 in Two Weeks
At the moment, I am getting rather excited by something called the World Series of Poker, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas. (Where else?) It is a bit like the Olympics or the Wimbledon of...
View ArticleSummer of Libel
The summer is usually pitifully short of news and this year is no exception. Yes, there is war in the Middle East, but that isn't really news in the same sense that 'Dog Bites Man' is not news. Peace...
View ArticleComicocracy
At the BBC this week:Russell Brand made a brave stand for disability rights. He refused to endorse a podcast of his radio show which excluded an interview with his wheelchair-using friend Ade Adepitan,...
View ArticleFight for your Right to Self-Circumcise!
I am required as part of my law course to write about voluntary euthanasia in the human rights context, particularly focusing on the challenge by Diane Pretty at the European Court a few years ago....
View ArticleA Spanner in the Works
I couldn't possibly fail to comment on yesterday's announcement that possession of violent pornography is to be made a criminal offence. It raises so many interesting issues about the relationship...
View ArticleSomething I Should have Anticipated
There is an amusing / disturbing twist to my last entry. It seems that other people are less concerned than me about typing things like "violent pornography" into their search engines. And at least one...
View ArticleFree Speech?
Three weeks after Big Brother has ended, there remains a question on my mind. Will Pete be given the chance to follow his fellow winners Craig, Brian, Kate, Cameron and Chantelle in being a TV...
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Post-Modern Photos
I am going to print some snaps from my recent holiday. The ultimate destination was South Korea but I had a stopover in Dubai which, as well as being fascinating in its own right, provided a few...
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Always a Frown with Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown took umbrage this week at being described by a Tory as 'autistic', and not for the first time. However, while the statement of Peter Viggers, in December last year, clearly did seem to be...
View ArticleGamekeeper Turns Poacher
The story of the week has to be the senior judge in England and Wales going under cover as a convicted criminal in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of community service. He gave an exclusive...
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Time for a Korea Break
Having already posted my photos from Dubai, I have been looking for an excuse to show the ones from Korea, the final destination of my holiday last month. I was hoping that a major story would arise in...
View ArticleBan the Veil to Protect Freedom
Last weekend, David Davis warned that free speech was under threat, as a result of what he called the "voluntary apartheid" of the Muslim community. On Tuesday, the Daily Express published the results...
View ArticleTripping to Mars
I have recently started doing some voluntary work representing people at Employment Tribunals because they are unable to afford to hire a solicitor (legal aid - what a joke). It is incredibly rewarding...
View ArticleLaw - What is it Good For? Part 1
Before you ask, I do not think that the answer is 'absolutely nothing'. For many libertarians, the law should have a very limited role to play in society. The argument runs that any regulation of the...
View ArticleLaw - What is it Good For? Part 2
Another myth about the purpose of law is that it only exists to restrict the actions of other people. As citizens, we also use it to regulate our own behaviour. This may sound bizarre but some...
View ArticleA Humorous Interlude
I interrupt this serious discussion for something more light-hearted. However, it is not entirely unconnected with the theme of my recent posts. Critics of the criminal law, especially pro-defendant...
View ArticleLaw - What is it Good For? Part 3
I have saved the biggest topic in this discussion for last so I will be as brief as possible. It is often assumed that having few laws increases freedom of choice but, in fact, the competive nature of...
View ArticleBlog Update
Everything is changing with my blogs. I have excitingly been asked by the New Statesman website to write a fortnightly blog about disability issues called 'A Different Way of Thinking'. It is aimed at...
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On the Feast of Stephen (+10)
I hope you all had a great New Year. This blog has been fairly inactive again and so it is time to post my Prague photos before the Christmas feeling entirely disappears. I was there in mid-December...
View ArticleMinisterial Responsibility: An Obituary
In an entry from last April, I discussed the decline of a consitutional tradition in which ministers were expected to resign for errors made in their departments. Such resignations are no longer...
View ArticleAre we in Denial?
Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK and the occasion has been commemorated by a number of events across the country today. Perhaps wisely, Google decided not to mark it with an adapted...
View ArticleBorn to Run?
Apologies for not blogging for so long. I have exams coming up and I am also running the London Marathon on 22nd April. And now seems as good a time as any to offer my readers the opportunity to...
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