The Empty City

28th October 2026 What events in Serbia and Brazil and perhaps Isreal tell us and don’t tell us * There is a lot of news and there is a lot to take in: Serbia, Brazil, United States, Israel, France, and so on.

How the government paid a large amount to get rid of a judicial review There is something curious about the reported settlement of the legal action brought by Olly Robbins against the United Kingdom government in respect of his sacking.

14 October 2026 Anniversary of the Battle of Hastings * Looking at a great work of medieval sequential art * The Bayeux Tapestry, as convention requires we call the embroidery currently on show at the British Museum, is a familiar thing.

5th October 2026 How the club’s lack of cooperation and putting forward dishonest evidence have put the club at a disadvantage * This is a post is on the decision by an independent commission on Manchester City.

25th September 2026 The dislocation between political discourse and reality Both law and history are often about the relationship between words and what we can call reality.

14th September 2026 How Coyote vs Acme is one of the best films made about civil litigation * (Some mild spoilers, caveat emptor.)

3rd September 2026 How settling litigation is being (wrongly) used for broader political goals * There have been two interesting examples of litigation settlements in the United States being used for wider political goals.

25 August 2026 Some things change, some things stay the same * Any commentator on human affairs has to reckon with two things: that certain things do not change, and that certain things do.

20th August 2026 A short post in respect of the death of Jason Arday * This post is not about the alleged wrongs of the late Jason Arday, as the facts are not fully available; and this post is not about the circumstances of his death, again because the fa…

4th August 2026 How he has fallen into a discovery trap of his own making One point which was emphasised in the litigation department of where I was a junior litigator was to always prepare for trial.

30th July 2026 The political-media addiction to lengthy sentences, and its consequences * Perhaps the greatest problem with our prisons policy is that of addiction: the addiction of those in politics and the media to demanding lengthy sentences of impriso…

28th July 2026 We have three years to protect our constitutional arrangements before a possible radical illiberal majority at the next General Election * There is enough time left, just about, to fix parts of our constitutional arrangements before the next

21st July 2026 Why it is far more important to have an effective politician as Lord Chancellor, rather than somebody who happens to be legally qualified. * From time to time, and from cabinet reshuffle to cabinet reshuffle, some politician is appointed to…

20th July 2026 * Regular readers of this blog will recall that there is nothing unusual and indeed nothing wrong with our political system’s capacity to eject Prime Ministers from office.

17th July 2026 Do read this judgment – and my Prospect comment * Yesterday this blog published a post, but it had a borked link to the judgment mentioned.

16th July 2026 A judge has made a splendid Order, which should be read in full. * There has never been a case like this one.