Charles Thomson

'Amazing' 'Disturbing' 'Astonishing' 'Shocking' 'Like a real life Line of Duty' The reviews are in. All episodes are out. A true crime podcast tells how a local newspaper unearthed a shocking paedophile ring cover-up. Unfinished: Shoebury's Lost Boys - podfollow.com/unfinished-1/

It was a privilege to represent the North Eastern Circuit yesterday and make the argument that if only we are given the tools needed we can turn this around without the need to restrict the right to trial by jury.

Former government lawyer and founding member of Defend Our Juries, Tim Crosland, was invited to give evidence at the Courts & Tribunals Bill Committee hearing in Parliament. The Labour government is attempting to bring about reforms that would significantly reduce jury trials.

This is shocking.

Over two days, every Essex court case I tried to cover went wrong. A flooded court, a collapsed interpreter, a runaway defendant… This is my firsthand experience of two days of chaos in the justice system: echo-news.co.uk/news/25968925.… Spoiler: Zero delays were caused by juries!

Our new BBC Director General…

This case has rather concerning implications for open justice from what I've seen so far! Thanks to @MouseInTheCourt for covering

"We're taught to believe our justice system is fair. Everyone is equal and its impossible for an innocent person to go to prison for a crime they didn't commit. What if that's not true?" THE OVERTURN, a new podcast, launches tomorrow on all platforms🔗 futurejustice.org.uk/podcast/

The best way to reduce burden and cost of FoI requests would be to be more transparent in general

Senior judge orders court hearing over missing text in coroner Mary Hassell's transcript of death of TV journalist davidhencke.com/2026/03/22/sen…

Reform leaders @benhabib6 and @RupertLowe10 were regulars on GB News. When they left Reform they say they were never asked back. Probably a total coincidence app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/72784/co…

Fascinating watching Joe become more and more terrified of this new world he is largely responsible for creating

No @KirstieMAllsopp, he’s not just the only man on the shortlist, he’s the only one without any broadcast experience.

It's time to ask more serious questions about the chair of Ofcom - Lord Michael Grade Brexiteer and Tory

A devastating indictment of Ofcom, the media regulator, which has let GB News to pump out Reform party propaganda and drive a coach and horses through the UK broadcasting laws. @arusbridger and I will be discussing this on @mediaconfpod shortly !

I do rarely say something is a must-read. But this thorough investigation by @arusbridger certainly is. If @lisanandy and Ofcom don't do anything now, they are complicit in letting the UK media landscape slide towards a lawless propaganda world like in the US.

Magnificent article & investigation by Alan Rusbridger on how the utterly useless Ofcom allowed one of its regulated TV channels, GBNews, to be taken over by a political party.

A massively consequential investigation by Alan Rusbridger into GB News: how "one political party in Britain has effectively ended up with its own television station". Raises deep questions about hi-jacking of British media/political culture: thenewworld.co.uk/alan-rusbridge…

🔥 It’s happened almost by stealth. GB News has effectively become Reform TV. A major UK political leader, Nigel Farage, hosts his own “news” show: something that would have been unthinkable in British broadcasting. A review by 20 experienced journalists found: • systemic bias • lack of challenge • factual inaccuracies • and overwhelming alignment with Reform talking points ☠️ Average compliance with @Ofcom rules? 1.5 out of 5. Meanwhile Ofcom has largely waved it through: even a Trump interview rated zero for impartiality was cleared because “balance” came hours later in a different programme. This is about something really fundamental: 👉 In the UK, newspapers can be partisan. 👉 Broadcasters are supposed to be impartial by law. That line is now being blurred or ignored. Even @afneil says the channel became something entirely different from what was promised: “A kind of Fox News… they worshipped the ground Farage walked on.” When a political movement effectively gains its own TV platform, with minimal regulation, it doesn’t just shape debate. It reshapes democracy. The question isn’t whether you agree with the politics. It’s whether the rules that underpin trust in broadcast news are still being enforced at all.

“I see it not only as appropriate but my responsibility to make it as plain as I can that I have grave security concerns if there are going to be judge alone trials,’ the Lady Chief Justice said. ‘It's a very different environment to be working in” dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

The government using “women’s rights” as a cover to drastically restrict access to jury trial is one of the most cynical tactics I’ve ever seen. Glad there are some in the VAWG sector calling it out.