Imogen

NEW: Gavin Williamson has announced on Instagram the sad death of Cronus the tarantula after more than a decade as a "trusty companion"

@Southwark_News @SouthwarkLabour Hi @Southwark_News this is incorrect- the Conservatives came third with 1711 votes

@SouthwarkLabour A split contest in Dulwich village. Labour attained 3503 votes, 897 than the next largest party, Lib Dem, with 2606. The Greens place third with 1402, 2104 less votes than Labour. #electionresults2026

Dulwich Village in #Southwark HELD by Labour with the highest turnout in the whole borough at 61.54% #electionresult2026 @SouthwarkLabour

In her evidence to the Public Bill Committee, our Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said MPs should amend the Courts and Tribunals Bill to remove the sections that will curtail jury trials and instead create specialist courts to deal with sexual offences and domestic abuse cases. This approach is already working in Crown Courts such as Preston to bring down the waiting times for complainants, victims and defendants so imagine what could be done if this approach was introduced more widely. #JusticeNeedsJuries

@GeorgeGreenwood @tempestvista Scandalous(ly) low! #georgegreenwoodhandlingpolicy

@isadler19 @tempestvista 9 FOIs! Scandal

BBC running outright propaganda on The Capture tonight Making FOI requests is now adjacent to extremism? "He accused the Government of covering up the true stats on undocumented migrants"

@nmdacosta @Jebadoo2 It was a very tight timeframe to submit evidence - 11 days I think - which I’m sure will have an impact on what has been provided.

@Jebadoo2 The Government will have complete control, so I expect they will be condescending at best, bullying at worst, to those that dissent, and consistently vote down proposals to find a middle ground.

This will be an important committee. The Government is positioning itself as a champion of victims but the institute for government says removing jury trial in cases where the sentence is below 3 years will only reduce trial time by 1.5-2.5%. Let’s see how this plays out

@hnjsamuels The Greek Prose comp paper still gives me nightmares

Rudely reminded by Facebook that I finished Classics Mods a full decade ago. Somehow feels both like yesterday and a million lifetimes ago.

@nmdacosta Seems inconsistent with the push towards transparency in the civil service regarding decision makers - for instance through the case of IAB etc which established you can’t redact the names of junior civil servants (or indeed third parties involved in the decision making process!)

I've been on this register and others. I think this needs more thought. Sunlight doesn't just help others see what those close to power are doing, it helps all of us to look clearly, and reflect on, our own exposures and conflicts of interest. Pass holders have unique access to Parliament and decision makers and those influencing those decisions - and it is this access that leads to the need for transparency not just regarding financial interests but who is 'in the room'. It ensures every staffer thinks 'Will it pass muster that I'm doing X while working for Y?'. It also protects staffers from being asked to do things and keep it discrete. Having now read the report, I'm concerned that concerns from non pass holders (an additional distinct cohort) led to the weakening of transparency requirements for everyone. A decision to remove individual names from the register and instead list only job titles significantly limits the ability of others to cross-check declarations. Without a name attached to an entry, it becomes much harder to identify potential omissions or inconsistencies. For someone to say 'Hang on, I know so and so is also doing X'. Sometimes that will be just a discrepancy, other times it could be something much more significant. Nil returns are not of little consequence. They reveal that so and so has assessed their interests and believes there is nothing to declare. If you remove them, and staff names are unknown, there is no potential for external scrutiny and that being challenged if there is actually something quite important. Who or how would it be discovered? This shifts the system away from one that is transparent and open to challenge towards one that relies much more heavily on trust and the integrity of the passholder. But a system that relies on good behaviour will fall over. The proposal risks undermining the core purpose of the register: to provide meaningful transparency about interests that may intersect with privileged access to Parliament.

@SalomonSoup The glamour of the job! The number of orders I have had to draft sitting on the floor due to lack of chairs…

Corridor court in session. 👩‍⚖️ It’s fine, step over me… #BarStudent

@PaulBrandITV The motion passed with an amendment "Regrets the lack of thorough consideration of the constitutional implications of this Bill for Wales during the legislative process" Why not mention that?

Thanks to everyone who attended our successful event last night, “Fighting the future: Can Parliament and the Courts prevent the rise of deepfake pornography?” Exploring the highly topical issue of deepfake images & pornography & how it can be prevented @isadler19 @sarah_bool

@shitbarrister Congratulations! I adore the leopards 🐆

Well now. I am very proud to present Daughter of SB - please welcome little Connie to the world!

What was Jimmy Carter doing in the Supreme Court last week?

@treesey @nmdacosta @BBCr4today Nikki you were excellent- I was shocked as to how patronising Lord Falconer was to you!

“The House needs to hear the issues. The House decides, not Lord Falconer” Brilliant from @nmdacosta on @BBCr4today Lord Falconer is trying to avoid much-needed scrutiny of the dangerous Leadbeater private members bill She explains why Lords are so very, very worried:

@AlexanderHorne1 Thank you Alex - I am not a supporter of the Bill but I would be much more comfortable if a Bill was being put together in the way you suggest than the way it is progressing at the moment!

While I am a great supporter of the Assisted Dying Bill, perhaps surprisingly I agree with Nikki that trying to force it through using the Parliament Acts would be flawed and unwise. (Short 🧵).

@BarbaraRich_law @RoryMaw @anonlawprof Very curious! I don't feel like Alison Padfield KC would have plucked it out of thin air - particularly given how detailed the skeleton is!

@isadler19 @RoryMaw @anonlawprof That is very curious, because I’ve never seen anything to connect him with that chambers address in any way. He referred to taking the Bar Transfer Test on various occasions in 2015-7 but must at some point have realised he was entirely ineligible to do so

I’ve now been sent an entire trial bundle relating to Fabian #Krougman’s use of professional titles. It’s every bit as sobering as you would expect. I’m surprised that this has taken so long, given his extremely provocative and confident style of engagement on here.

@BarbaraRich_law @RoryMaw @anonlawprof Weirdly, I've just noticed that Dr Charlotte Proudman references him in her skeleton argument for her disciplinary hearings, describing him as a barrister at Lamb Building (see p.22, 30 and 41)? #content=query:fabian,pageNum:22,indexOnPage:0,bestMatch:false" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">scribd.com/document/77063…

@RoryMaw @anonlawprof He wasn’t even eligible to take the Bar Transfer Test as he was not a qualified foreign lawyer, and it is hard to believe that he could have genuinely confused it with a process of temporary authorisation for a foreign lawyer to appear as a barrister in England in a specific case

@BarbaraRich_law @PolInsideOut @GloriaDePiero @Richard4Watford @JonAshworth Noting that Kim Leadbeater herself stated in a Rest is Politics interview that there couldn’t be a slippery slope re assisted dying because the title of the bill couldn’t be changed. This didn’t show to me the best understanding of how legislation works…

@PolInsideOut @GloriaDePiero @Richard4Watford @JonAshworth This is insufferably condescending towards well-informed sceptics who have followed the progress of this Bill. Much of the detail, covering many important aspects of the law, still remains to be drafted in the form of secondary legislation, rules of court, and codes of practice

Kim Leadbeater MP hits back at those who say the assisted dying proposals haven’t  been properly thought through. Kim Leadbeater MP on @PolInsideOut speaking to @GloriaDePiero and @Richard4Watford, standing in for @JonAshworth. Listen now: linktr.ee/politicsinside…

@BellaWallerstei Hi @BellaWallerstei it's illegal - happy to provide more details if you'd like me to DM you.

@SalomonSoup Agreed - it is very frustrating that the new provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act on this which massively tighten up the law on creation haven’t been commenced yet.

AI software developers should take heed. And legislators should pull their finger out.