Jonathan Jones

The government’s progress on ethical standards remains underwhelming. Any tightening is to be welcomed, but the idea that ministers “are expected”to repay severance if they break the rules simply underlines the absence of an enforceable legal duty

Ministerial Code Ministerial Code setting out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties.

We have an updated ministerial code! The new code makes clear that ministers "are expected" to pay back any severance payment if they quickly get a new ministerial job or are found to have broken the rules on post-government jobs

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Brilliant, thank you. In fact in any recipe I suppose - ginger glazed chicken thighs for tomorrow’s supper?

Today’s #FridayCocktail is a ginger and lemongrass mojito (containing a syrup made with those 2 ingredients)

Syrup. 1 decent chunk of ginger, peeled. Equivalent lemongrass. Chopped v small. 75g sugar (I used mixture of soft brown & caster), equivalent of water. V slow simmer as long as you like. Strain, chill. Mojito: 60ml gold rum, 15ml lime juice, 12ml of the syrup, mint leaves, top up with soda. Repeat

Thing is, I do now have quite a quantity of ginger & lemongrass syrup so 🤷‍♂️

Today’s #FridayCocktail is a ginger and lemongrass mojito (containing a syrup made with those 2 ingredients)

How Britain's ECHR membership became a political hot potato - BBC News The extent to which leaving the Convention would make a difference to immigration has been greatly exaggerated, argues Lord Sumption

I’m quoted here. I’m perhaps more sceptical now about the idea of affecting the interpretation of the ECHR by domestic law alone. The detail will matter. But it’s preferable to leaving. And will be quicker than trying to amend the Convention itself www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good Q. Obvious risk that Strasbourg disagrees. But (as I say in the IfG piece) it’s just possible that, with a sensible good-faith attempt to interpret (say) Art 8, and the right facts, Strasbourg might go along with it

Including this: Changes to human rights laws, even if effective, will not alone solve the problem of small boats or prevent legal challenges, including successful ones. That will require wider policy changes along with improvements to the quality and speed of decision making by the UK authorities.

What does Keir Starmer mean by “looking again” at international law? | Institute for Government The government plans to remain in the ECHR but change how it is interpreted.

I’ve written more here.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

How Britain's ECHR membership became a political hot potato - BBC News The extent to which leaving the Convention would make a difference to immigration has been greatly exaggerated, argues Lord Sumption

I’m quoted here. I’m perhaps more sceptical now about the idea of affecting the interpretation of the ECHR by domestic law alone. The detail will matter. But it’s preferable to leaving. And will be quicker than trying to amend the Convention itself www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wise

Well misprints and typos do happen. A former colleague of mine once made an announcement congratulating the Pubic Sector Lawyer of the Year

Would seem odd if such prosecutions are time-bound to the current administration (short of getting evidence from former ministers??)

Good piece as usual. “… it is open to the government today to say that it considers that China was a threat to national security in 2021–23”.
If not, it’s difficult to see how the CPS could begin or continue ANY prosecution for such an offence occurring before the current government took power

How UK could leave ECHR Withdrawal would allow EU to end criminal law enforcement co-operation

Lord Wolfson's legal advice to Kemi Badenoch on ECHR withdrawal has now been published. In this thread I'll highlight a few passages that stood out for me - not meant to be a full analysis (in [] are the paragraph numbers). /1

rozenberg.substack.com/p/how-uk-cou...

I’ve written probably more than my fair share about the ECHR, but lord I wish our politicians would stop banging on as if leaving it would achieve world peace and solve all society’s ills

Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

How UK could leave ECHR Withdrawal would allow EU to end criminal law enforcement co-operation

The next Conservative government will take the UK out of the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act. Kemi Badenoch announced her decision after taking advice from Lord Wolfson of Tredegar KC, who had warned her that withdrawal would not be a “silver bullet”.

rozenberg.substack.com/p/how-uk-cou...

Wolfson Final Report | Conservatives Wolfson Final Report

Here’s the Wolfson Report recommending the UK leaves the ECHR

www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...

Take a shot every time Policy Exchange is cited as authority for a dubious legal proposition and you’ll be drunk before the end of the first chapter

The train manager on this train (which divides to go to 2 destinations) has advised us to “take a long hard look at where we are and where we want to go”. Wise advice I feel

This weeks cocktail - a Manhattan, courtesy of Oriole Covent Garden

This weeks cocktail - a Manhattan, courtesy of Oriole Covent Garden

What does Keir Starmer mean by “looking again” at international law? | Institute for Government The government plans to remain in the ECHR but change how it is interpreted.

My thoughts on what Keir Starmer might mean by “looking again” at international law (including the ECHR) in the context of migration, how that might be done and whether it would work www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

What does Keir Starmer mean by “looking again” at international law? | Institute for Government The government plans to remain in the ECHR but change how it is interpreted.

What does Keir Starmer mean by “looking again” at international law?

@sirjjkc.bsky.social assesses the PM's comments on how the ECHR and other treaties apply to immigration cases www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

What does Keir Starmer mean by “looking again” at international law? | Institute for Government The government plans to remain in the ECHR but change how it is interpreted.

My thoughts on what Keir Starmer might mean by “looking again” at international law (including the ECHR) in the context of migration, how that might be done and whether it would work www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

Rather extraordinary to publish this. “We wrongly thought the government’s case was going badly, so we increased our offer, which the government rightly rejected and went on to win far more”

Rather extraordinary to publish this. “We wrongly thought the government’s case was going badly, so we increased our offer, which the government rightly rejected and went on to win far more”

“This public hearing and published judgment are just for show!”