Kyle Butcher

It may only be but one component – let's not pretend the economy isn't the big factor – but giving away sovereign territory on the basis of ill-founded demands from other states doesn't generally bolster national self-confidence. One would think @b_judah might be alive to that.

@johndotwills @UnderSneege Just remember not to commit the cardinal sin of politics and remind people what the largest component of 'welfare' is because they will quickly tell you: "erm actually, no it isn't welfare, I paid my stamp [sic] all my life!"

@UnderSneege Some empirical evidence for your claim: I see that welfare expenditure is now £333bn and income tax take is £331bn. And just in case the punishment part isn’t clear enough: taxes will continue rising

In our needs based country, independence from the state is treated as a punishable vice while dependence on the state is treated as a rewardable virtue.

@aswren I do appreciate that, but that was exactly my point. His lax use of language (one would hope – as oppose to it being intentional!) requires correcting when championing justice being seen to be done, rather than repeating, because of the stark difference between the two concepts.

@KyleButcher ‘Show trial’ was what he said, quoting verbatim here

Great to see. ‘Demonic’ is a really interesting word here. At our recent event Glasman used it intentionally because it’s his view that there’s a ‘demon’ in the body politic & to get rid of it we need a public exorcism. Show trials. Justice needs to be seen to be believed

@SO3_Clausewitz @BarbaraRich_law @UnderSneege Is it warefare without victory if a man with a stick charges an airbase? Some cases are lawfare without victory – interim remedy is disruptive/ there is legitimate doubt about the final outcome – others have no real impact except a press release and are wasting money from Day 1.

@BarbaraRich_law @UnderSneege Might it perhaps be fair to call it lawfare without lawvictory?

Britain is a legal system with a country attached.

@LukeTryl If that's made as humerous observation, I apologise for taking it literally in what follows... ...but the 'serious disease outbreak' in question is just incomparible in pretty much every which way! The energy price shock, however, is a quite different matter.

The Gods evidentially decided that the UK dealing with a serious disease outbreak and an energy price shock sequentially rather than simultaneously hadn’t proved trying enough for us.

@My_Mole_ @FaringForwards Not so, 'ministers of justice' is the accepted term for counsel acting for the Crown as prosecutors (see Blackstone's D16.3).

@FaringForwards Actually the silk would be an officer of the law.

There was a famous "ouch" moment at the Bristol Bar, when Butterworth J told a very prominent silk who was prosecuting: "You are supposed to be a minister of justice. Not a copywriter for the tabloid press." A correction that many lawyers on here, me included, should heed.

This sort of political messaging from official government accounts is not only inappropriate for the civil service but cheapens the authority of the state

@carryontitterin I presume you mean 'neither...nor' (in which case it is England) because if you just mean 'both' well, it is Sergeant!

Today's question: Which is the first Carry On film to not feature BOTH Kenneth Williams and Sid James?

@AndyRoden1 @NeilDotObrien does not mean that we should scrap HMRC or that there is anything wrong with the tax collecting and investigating role of HMRC, nor that they set tax policy! But it was a legitimate concern nonetheless. Similar concerns play out at other quangos.

@AndyRoden1 @NeilDotObrien the whole Cabinet agreed they were wrong to do it, but it wasn't just as easy as the Minister putting their foot down to get it reversed (or indeed, ever approving it!) there was a 'stickyness' to getting it reversed because of their organisational status. Of course that /...

Whenever people talk about "quangos" I always want them to be more specific - I'm all in favour in principle but large quangos include: NHS England Education and Skills Funding Agency HM Revenue & Customs Network Rail UK Research and Innovation HM Prison and Probation Service National Highways Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Homes England Rural Payments Agency UK Health Security Agency HM Courts and Tribunals Service

@ElfordJon @FurtherOr @baylissbaghdad @TheCriticMag is just as true of mainstream legacy media (and their employees) as it is of your freelance commentators and analysists. But we are more used to 'bullshit detecting' legacy media. I would name 10 examples of people/sources but if I tag them we might get unwanted attention!

@ElfordJon @FurtherOr @baylissbaghdad @TheCriticMag recollection is that was never as pronounced as it is now – maybe it is a product of the sheer volume of opportunities people have to share their thoughts on social media – but it plays havoc with your ability to use and make 'heuristics' about reliability. I also think /...

A concerning new breed of semi-sophisticated online bullshit artists are finding an eager audience among the British Right. My latest for @TheCriticMag thecritic.co.uk/the-problem-of…

@Tim_ODoherty utmost credit (I mean that sincerely) and to his detriment – consider themselves competent analysts/researchers, as well as journalists. But there is a dramatic difference between reporting and extrapolating. And – per the original thread – many full-time pure analysts do worse!

@Tim_ODoherty Ahh but I disagree that you are in any way whatsoever blameworthy! Your original summary was indeed accurate and nuanced because it was confined to its own facts. Part of the problem is that many of today's journalists – and Tom is definately one of these both to his /...