Ben Griffin

Jenrick now proposing sacking judges he doesn't like. I can just about remember when Conservatives cared about things like the rule of law.

Leaving the ECHR won’t fix illegal migration Half-baked tales of rulings turning on chicken nuggets are no basis for cutting Britain adrift

A rather good puncturing of some of the silly claims underpinning demands that we should leave the ECHR.

www.thetimes.com/article/14ad...

‘The hero legislator of Uxbridge’: the Hon. Charles Thomas Mills (1887-1915) - The History of Parliament 100 years ago the Battle of Loos proved deadly for a third MP, as today marks the anniversary of the seventh MP who died in fighting in the First World War.

#OTD 110 years ago, the Hon. Charles Thomas Mills MP died at the Battle of Loos.

Dr Kathryn Rix explored the parliamentary and military service of the youngest MP killed during the First World War on the #HistParl site:

Was curious about JFK’s health so I asked google. TIL he was pregnant in 1960 but only put on 15-20lbs

Lucy Delap, Knowing Their Place: Domestic Service in Twentieth Century Britain (2011), pp. 33, 52, 74, 91.

Reform say it is "disgusting and libellous" to suggest that Nigel Farage flirted with Hitler Youth when he was young.

Here's how a former teacher at his school remembers it

It’s also exciting to have doctoral student @chloechallender.bsky.social contributing ‘Ringside seat? Women’s modes of entry to the early 19th century parliament’, which promises to be a fascinating read!

Parliamentary History Click on the title to browse this journal

We’re delighted that @jamesepeate.bsky.social is one of the early career contributors to the next edition of Parliamentary History on ‘Rough Work on the Hustings’: Sheridan, Cobbett, and Newspapers in the General Election of 1806.

Subscribe here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1750...

British Academy responds to government announcement on university maintenance grants The British Academy has issued a response to the government's announcement on using a proposed levy on international students to fund maintenance grants.

Read our response to the Government’s announcement that university maintenance grants will be reintroduced for certain courses, funded through a levy on international student fees
https://bit.ly/4gPz7uO

Contributing Editors at The Herefordshire Victoria County History Trust Apply for the Contributing Editors role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

#HistoryJob - just a reminder that our colleagues in VCH Herefordshire are looking for *two* contributing editors to bring their first #BigRedBook for over 100 years to fruition.

Details in the link, applications close on 10 October.

Congratulations!

How weird that this should have disappeared from the Telegraph archive...

Large Language Muddle | The Editors The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

WHEEWWWWWWWWWW:
"When we use generative AI, we consent to the appropriation of our intellectual property by data scrapers . . . We agree that we would rather deplete our natural resources than make our own art or think our own thoughts."

www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...

Come and work with our fab Americanists - a dynamic (and super nice!) group within @camhistory.bsky.social. We're hiring for a permanent position in twentieth century US history.

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...

Today we are celebrating #Railway200, as 200 years ago, #OTD 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened.

To mark this milestone, we thought we’d look at some of the ways Parliament and the railways have intersected in the last 200 years: (🧵 1/6)
@victoriancommons.bsky.social

Professorship of Economic History at University of Cambridge Apply for the Professorship of Economic History role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Professorship of Economic History
University of Cambridge - Faculty of Economics #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOS980/p...

Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture 18th-century Britain is notorious for corrupt and restrictive politics, when few could vote, bribery and debauchery were commonplace. But it was also an age when modern democracy was being shaped.

For anyone who is #teaching #18thcentury politics and/or electoral culture, or is doing #localhistory or #familyhistory, do check out our ECPPEC web resource : it's chock-full of short informative essays, polling data, and artefacts #skystorians ecppec.ncl.ac.uk

UK universities take note: “95% of organisations see no measurable return on their investment in these technologies.”

Really good news!

Can confirm.

School history lessons minimise the role of women, report finds Campaigners say key stage 3 curriculum plays to misogny and teaches a ‘false version of the past’

'Even when women were mentioned, the report found they were more often victims than protagonists, with the women murdered by Jack the Ripper more likely to be taught in lessons than the female code breakers at Bletchley Park during the second world war 1/2

I'm very pleased to announce that the call for proposed Special Issues of the Historical Journal is now live, with a deadline of 12th December. Please do spread widely among your networks — @saracaputo.bsky.social and I look forward to reading your submissions! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The journal Victorians (formerly The Victorian Newsletter) is out, with new format and new editor Kristen Pond, featuring a forum on amateurism and professionalization in science with intro by @aktange.bsky.social. Some terrific work here, and all is Open Access. muse.jhu.edu/issue/55573 #C19th

No, it's not possible to physically "throw" a paper plane from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland because the border is an actual physical land boundary, not an aerial one you could cross with a paper aircraft. While you can cross the border with ease for people and goods, the concept of throwing a paper plane across this geographical divide is a physical impossibility. Why It's Not Possible Physical Border: The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a geographical, not an aerial, boundary. There is no open airspace for paper planes to travel across. Distance: The land border is significant, and a paper plane thrown by hand simply lacks the power and range to cover that distance. Gravity and Aerodynamics: A paper plane is subject to gravity and air resistance, which would quickly bring it down after being thrown. In Summary You can move freely between the two jurisdictions, but this doesn't mean you can throw an object across the physical landmass. The question is about a physical action that cannot be performed over the distance between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Incredible stuff

Congratulations!

A short post about the Modern British City, out in November: www.lundhumphries.com/blogs/featur...

Google AI doesn’t understand how borders work

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

Lecturer in Irish/British History at King's College London Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer in Irish/British History on jobs.ac.uk!

We have two jobs at KCL History!

16-month post in Modern Irish and/or British History: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOU178/l...

And 5-year post in Early Modern Europe & The World: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOU182/l...

(both to start in January 2026)

The Covid Contracts: Follow the Money review – a devastating picture of the biggest spending scandal ever This rigorous look at the Tories’ ‘VIP lane’ for PPE suppliers during Covid raises questions about the motivations of those involved – ones that are almost too disgusting to contemplate

It's quite incredible that this Covid exposé hasn't dominated the UK headlines today. A classic story of ministers taking voluable credit for their "lifesaving decisions", and then insisting that all of the disastrous PPE contracts were the work of officials...

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...