Owen Bowcott

I’ve written to every Member of Parliament today. Proposals before Parliament would remove jury trials from offences carrying up to three years in prison. Freedoms rarely vanish overnight. They are chipped away in the name of efficiency. Juries did not cause the crisis in our courts. Removing them will not fix it. When the state seeks to take someone’s liberty for serious offences, the judgment of ordinary citizens should never be optional. This is close to becoming law. Please read the letter. Contact your MP now.

@Sanchia7 Many Thanks, Sanchia. A lovely, lively podcast. Apologies slow reply - distracted by other matters. Only started watching Powell and Pressburger recently but hooked. Enjoy your new journalistic freedom!

@BBCHelena @owenbowcott @benfenton @phil_tinline @valentinelow

theguardian.com/world/2022/feb… Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth had previously warned that removal of the Mauritian flags by British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) officials would be a “provocation”.

#contribution-957A6139-7612-46BC-AB04-A647A2BD5CDE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-0… Foreign Office minister says flags planted on the Chagos Islands by Mauritian government expedition last month were a “political stunt” and have now been removed.

Thank you for all your generous comments and support over the years. Today is my last day on The Guardian. Happy New Year! All the best for 2021.

@colemancr Good luck, Clive. It’s been a pleasure working alongside you. Enjoy new freedoms.

My last day as BBC Legal Correspondent. Huge thanks to all the brilliant colleagues I've worked with over my 10 yrs, those in the legal world, and the amazing people who've trusted me to cover their stories. It's been a privilege. A v v happy NY to all. On to new challenges.

After 32 years on The Guardian, I’m closing my notebook and stepping down from the press bench at the end of the year. Huge thanks to everyone who helped me understand. Apologies for stories missed.

I'm taking calls for The Guardian's Christmas charity appeal from midday.#GDNCharityappeal2020

@TalAbdulrazaq Do email me at owen.bowcott@theguardian.com

@sarahsackman Do email me at owen.bowcott@theguardian.com

@owenbowcott Hi Owen Id like to contact you about a story further to story you covered last month. Is there a way for me to get in touch? Please DM me if possible.

@philippesands @realDonaldTrump @richardhorton1 @AndrewSparrow I'll be there tomorrow, watching remotely. Thanks for the reminder. Trump before the ICJ or ICC? That would pack the press benches.

@DrS_Reynolds Three restless teenagers at home. One evacuated from gap year expedition in Costa Rica. Working from home but holiday this week. Enjoying London’s unusually clean air. Do email owen.bowcott@gmail.com You?

@DrS_Reynolds 🧩🎬🎧🎼♟🍷🥮? Trust you are surviving the lockdown?

@Fran_Mulhern Hi Fran. Do email me at owen.bowcott@theguardian.com

I’ll be taking calls for the Guardian telethon after 4pm this afternoon on 0203 353 4368 to raise money for environmental and green charities. Do ring in. #gdntelethon #GDNCharityappeal2019

This morning it’s Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters who are out in force at dawn in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Rohingya refugee survivors of ethnic violence in Myanmar and lawyers gather outside International Court of Justice to see Aung San Suu Kyi at genocide hearings in The Hague.

Topical talk. A judge explores his immigrant heritage: former supreme court justice Lord Dyson in conversation Shami Chakrabarti on Thursday at Migration Museum migrationmuseum.org/event/a-judges…

@marktucker20 owen.bowcott@theguardian.com

Boris Johnson’s decision to close down parliamentary debate while likening Britain to a superhero rendered in period costume.