Dominic Hardwick

cancelled funding for Latin in state schools

Plans to use artificial intelligence to create court transcripts are a welcome step to ensure the transparency of justice. As it stands, courts charge huge sums of money for access to court transcripts. When I asked for a transcript for a major trial, Manchester Crown Court told me it was £100,000 – when I pressed them, it went down to £9,000, but it’s still way beyond reach for most. In other countries, these can be accessed entirely free of charge. We should do the same and make them freely accessible in a similar way as we have with Hansard. thejusticegap.com/government-pla…

@PolitlcsUK Labour's response to a colleague, who hadn't rebelled once in 15 years, until @DavidLammy's back-of-a-fag-packet jury trial plan. The same man who has struggled with his mental health, after losing his nephew to suicide. This is Labour. Rock bottom. Well done @Keir_Starmer.

'Thank God that’s over': A libel claim brought against local news outlet Mill Media has been thrown out as an 'abuse of process' as David Lammy promised action against such groundless lawsuits intended to silence public interest reporting pressgazette.co.uk/news/mill-medi…

Politics aside, here are 10 reasons why using the Parliament Acts to force the Terminally Ill Adults Bill into law is a bad idea: 1. The Royal College of Physicians have said the Bill is unsafe 2. The Royal College of Psychiatrists have said the Bill is unworkable, and unsafe 3. The British Geriatrics Society have said the Bill’s safeguards are not adequate 4. Domestic abuse charities have said the Bill is unsafe 5. Organisations representing disabled people have said the Bill is unsafe 6. Royal College of GPs says the Bill lacks adequate safeguards 7. Lord Stevens, ex NHS CEO, said legislating for assisted dying in the current climate of hospice cuts is “utterly ridiculous” 8. MIND says the safeguards are not adequate 9. The CLADD group at KCL (DOI) have said the Bill is “not fit for purpose” 10. The British Association of Social Workers say the Bill’s is not safe enough

Everyone needs to go to the @novaexhibition in London. I have just been and I am completely shaken by what I saw. As you walk among the tents, awnings and burnt out cars salvaged from October 7, you’re shown footage from the day, filmed by festival goers and bodycam footage of the Hamas terrorists. The glee with which they murdered innocent people is vile. There’s no glory in it or justification for it. As well as the brutality and evil of that day, there are also inspiring messages of hope. If you really want to understand what happened on October 7 and how it felt, please go. You will l leave deeply affected by it. But also, somehow, with more hope for humanity.

I cannot believe - in a crowded field - that the dying vapours of a Starmer leadership are going to be chanced on asking restless backbench MPs to RESTRICT JURY TRIAL for their constituents. Will those backbench MPs be able to resist giving Lammy and Starmer their true verdict?

🚨 Shabana Mahmood’s advisor said she had “no involvement whatsoever” in an election fraud case. Now @pennycenturyy has obtained the court transcript.. Not only did she give evidence, her postal ballot was passed to the CPS. Strange thing to forget. birminghamdispatch.co.uk/exclusive-cour…

We won every seat on Richmond upon Thames Council last week. But that doesn’t mean we’ve changed our mind on electoral reform. It’s time the Government stopped defending a broken system out of self-interest and backed proportional representation.

A Blairite, a Brownite, a Corbynite and a Starmerite walk into a bar The barman asks: “What are you having, Andy?”

Labour should pay the £5 million it will cost to run by-elections in Makerfield and Greater Manchester.

Andy Burnham's third term as Mayor of Greater Manchester ends in May 2028. Here's every time Andy said he would a) not return to Westminster and b) serve his full third term: 2021: "But this is the job in politics I truly want. Why? Because, in a way I could never be in Westminster, this job brings out the real me." 2021: "it's still the case that I expect this to be my last job" 2021: "But I don't see it happening and I do believe genuinely this will be my last job in politics, I've said that before, I'm just saying I'm not, I don't want to do the politician thing of answering something not completely truthfully… I would love to do a third and even a fourth term if people would have me, I don't know if they would, but if they would I would like to do that." 2024: Andy "much happier" in as mayor, wants to "serve a full third term, because the stuff I want to do hasn't been done yet." He went on: "Everyone says I use [the mayor job] as a stepping stone, and that has never been the case… that would be a pretty big stepping stone if I was planning a return to Westminster." 2024: "When it comes to the decency and warmth of the people, there is no better city region on Earth than this one that we live in. That is why being elected to represent for the third time means absolutely everything to me. I can honestly say I have never given anything less than my all to this job and I've tried to be there for all communities, and everyone who lives here – and I promise to do again." Post re-election… 2024: "I am ready to fight harder than I have ever fought for anything before, for a Greater Manchester where people can live free from the fear of debt, hunger and eviction, and where everyone is set up to be part of the growing success story that is our city region today. Greater Manchester will continue to lead the way and we will do it together, thank you so much for your support. I look forward to getting on with the job again immediately, and I won't let you down." 2024: "Honestly, I'm here for a full third term." 2024: "I am committed to my third term, absolutely. I'm not planning to head back to Westminster any time soon." 2025: "I love everything about this job. I love what's happening here in Greater Manchester. I'm completely committed to it." 2025: Being mayor "the best job politics can offer… this is such a privilege. It's a job I've loved every minute of." 2025: "You'd have to wrench me out of Manchester." 2025: "if this is my last job in politics, I'm absolutely happy with that and I'm not in any way sort of hankering or plotting a return. I think what we've established here is of more lasting national significance than a short stint back in a position in Westminster." 2017: "I'm not doing this as a stepping stone. I'm taking on this role on a long-term basis to build up the voice of the north of England and Greater Manchester." 2017: "It feels to me like I'm leaving-leaving." 2017: "I'm devoting myself to it wholeheartedly, I don't do anything by halves. I'm not really a tactical politician in that way. If I do something I try and embrace it wholeheartedly. I'm doing it in that spirit and I hope to be here for the long-term."

The last remaining person in Parliament who served in the Armed Forces in the Second World War retired on Wednesday. Labour peer Lord Christopher, aged 101, bowed out, 81 years after WWII ended.

Maybe he’s just a very strict adherent to the principle of no taxation without representation.

Heart warming that Zack Polanski decided to join the overwhelming majority of British Jews in not casting a vote for the Green party.

A Labour source texts: ‘That might be believable if he hadn’t already asked 26 other MPs first’

Farage says his £5 million gift was a “reward” for Brexit. The rest of us were rewarded with higher bills and years of chaos. This grifter must not become prime minister.

The Klu Klux Klan used to march through black neighbourhoods in the 50s and 60s, seeking to intimidate black residents and assert white supremacy. Now antisemites march through Jewish neighbourhoods, seeking to intimidate Jewish residents and assert anti-Jew supremacy. It was racism then and it’s racism now.

Jury is out on @Keir_Starmer but we all know what @DavidLammy thinks of juries.

@HCH_Hill It was worse than that, he privatised an existing NHS hospital: bbc.co.uk/news/health-28…

Isn't Burnham the only health secretary to have opened a privately-operated NHS hospital?