Tom Beardsworth

theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/m… Barrister in Palestine Action trial facing contempt of court proceedings

The Linehan saga has plainly frustrated Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley ✍️ Tom Beardsworth spectator.com/article/speech…

One upshot of Labour’s proposal for jury trials is that a first-time suspect might be denied a jury whereas a hardened criminal with 20 previous convictions accused of *exactly the same thing* might get a jury because *his* sentence would be 3 years+. Well done everybody! 👏

And on the topic of two tierism - a real phenomenon but one that is difficult to define - Rob says: “To me, this is a clear manifestation of a two-tier justice system, where powerful people can speak to other powerful people to shut up little people.”

Delighted for my former client Rob Moss, a retired firefighter who endured a torrid 2025 after posting mild online criticism of Staffordshire Fire Service and its bosses. telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/1…

@Akelly95 @WTMAtkinson ‘Stepping Stones’ (1977) by the same author is in a similar vein and free to read cps.org.uk/research/stepp…

@WTMAtkinson Agree. But needs a reprint. Unless you can find it in a library it’s a few hundred quid to buy.

There are two types of people in politics - those who have read Just in Time, and should be taken seriously, and those who have not, and should not.

Labour will not succeed in abolishing juries but it’s important to never, ever forget that they tried

As its Remembrance Sunday, here’s something I wrote about Edward Thomas’s England, its hedgerows and spinneys, and why I still believe in my country jewishnews.co.uk/opinon-england…

Surely no finer walk in England from train station to court than Lincoln

FT comments never miss

Breaking: the FSU has got all of Graham Linehan’s bail condition dropped. When @Glinner was arrested by five armed police officers for three tweets, he was bailed on the condition that he couldn’t use X. After legal correspondence, the police dropped that condition, but imposed an even more riddiculous one - “Not to contact the victims or interfere with the investigation”. A condition so vague, it presumably banned Graham from speaking to any trans-identifying person. They wouldn’t drop it, so we took it to court. Today, Westminster Magistrates Court deleted the condition. The Judge ruled that: “the conditions are so vague as to make compliance with them extremely difficult, with a high risk of an inadvertent breach. The phrase not to contact ‘victims’ is a loaded term - nothing proved to date. In any event who are the victims? There is reference to one individual who is offended. It’s a type of offence where anyone, anyone from the trans community could take offence. So it is meaningless as a prohibition”. The police didn’t even bother to turn up to court. But a barrister, funded by FSU supporters, did. He won. The @metpoliceuk lost. But Graham’s fight doesn’t end here. He’s still under investigation and the police are yet to compensate him for his ordeal. You can back Graham’s crowdfunder to force the Met to end their anti free speech crusade here

Murder rates are down because we have got better at saving lives. Yet violent knife crime has risen 9% year-on-year in London, meaning hospitals are treating more stab and gun shot victims than ever before. And it continues to rise.

London before the embankment in some ways makes a lot more sense

The appalling treatment of Peter Sullivan, gaoled for 38 years for a murder committed by someone else. Let down by forensic science, police and pettifogging proceduralism in the justice system. It's a sorry story that hasn't had the publicity it deserves. #more-3631" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">barristerblogger.com/2025/10/08/pet…

@HugoGye @StarrittAlex Enjoyed this v much, which I read partly on your recommendation. Thank you

This new novel by my friend @StarrittAlex is a masterpiece which anyone who graduated into the financial crisis will find chillingly familiar - it's also the best exploration of male friendship in a novel for decades. Please read it.

St Botolph’s Church, Boston, by the morning and evening light

London is currently paralysed by transport strikes, at enormous cost to the British economy, as yet more rents are extracted from the people of London. Since 2023, TfL has actually had the power to require continued minumum service (40% of normal sevices) during strikes. Similar requirements exist in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and elsewhere. (In New York, transport strikes are simply banned.) However, the current Government has instructed public bodies not to use these powers, and has announced plans to abolish them. Frustrated Londoners this morning should remember that their troubles are a political choice, which their Government could partly undo at any time at no cost and with no new legislation.

@SimonFawthrop_1 Thanks Simon. Hope you’re well

Well done @TBeardsworth

🚨 BREAKING: An FSU member was arrested in an early-morning raid after criticising his former employer in a private Facebook group — and then placed under “Orwellian” bail conditions barring him from even revealing the arrest. Following legal intervention supported by the FSU, the extraordinary “gagging clause” has now been overturned at a special court hearing. Robert Moss, 56, a former firefighter and Labour councillor, worked for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service for 28 years. Earlier this summer, Staffordshire Police raided his home, seizing devices before arresting him under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. However, at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court, Tom Beardsworth, a barrister instructed by the FSU, successfully challenged the gagging conditions, arguing: “For the police to prohibit an arrested person from speaking about their arrest is extraordinary and Orwellian and it is not hyperbole to put it in those terms.” In the more than 4,000 cases the FSU has handled since 2020, this is amongst the most egregious abuses of state power we have encountered. 👉 Full details here: freespeechunion.org/police-gag-ord…