John de Waal KC

I am doing a remote mediation today and someone has brought their 11-month old baby, which is wonderful, but I’m not sure how he’s going to sign the confidentiality agreement…

View from where I am mediating today.

View from where I am mediating today.

The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth

Isn’t Jenrick revolting?

Many pundits today are pushing the line that everyone who protests the genocide in Gaza is basically either antisemitic or tolerant of antisemitism. But isn't that precisely the conflation of the actions of the Israeli gov't with all Jewish people, which is at the heart of this wave of antisemitism?

Misogyny is often precursor to terrorism.

A call for those outside the Jewish community to share a message of solidarity when Yom Kippur ends at 723pm tonight. Please do join if you can. This is an initiative coordinated by the Together coalition, talking among networks of all faiths + none this afternoon
bsky.app/profile/sund...

Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate

Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete

Late night mediation.

Personally, I’m in favour of a good citizenship test for all those who go on right wing demonstrations and marches, if they fail they could be re-educated in British values of tolerance and liberalism. Immigrants are not the problem.

How did the White House end up brokering a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

In a new article for @foreignaffairs.com, Senior Fellow Thomas de Waal unravels how a shared rejection of Russian dominance in the South Caucasus drove both parties down "an unlikely road to peace."

TLDR: Make racism shameful again. While you’re at it add fascism too.

A political party, that's topping the polls, lauding someone who called for human beings to be burned to death should be a moment for national self-reflection.

This is not who we are nor who we should become.

Reform UK are a plague on our national humanity. We must never permit them to govern.

And compare Euston, the worst London terminus, with Marylebone, the nicest.

That was my submission if I recall: it was the ‘sinking freehold’. I wouldn’t have dared make it in the Chancery Division.

My honeymoon in 1994 lasted three days because I was due in court on the Weds. my wife never forgave me.

Day in, day out, I speak to ordinary people who are organising to welcome the asylum seekers accommodated in their towns.

They befriend, support them, reach out to them as fellow human beings.

That's the Britain I know, the one I see around me & we never get told about on TV.

I prosecute and defend the most serious sexual offences in our courts.

The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative.

Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.

I’ve been reading this fascinating book whilst on holiday this summer. It explains the Sunni/Shia division and the origins of Wahhabism in great detail. Highly recommended.

No, I am not going to leave without you I promise!

View from where I am mediating today.

I am pleased to report that the Law Society has just commissioned a 2nd edition of Risk and Negligence in Property Transactions which I edit together with contributors from @gatehouse.bsky.social. Publication early 2026.

Kudos to @easyjethelpline.bsky.social and #GatwickAirport. I took my 94yo mother on holiday to Ithaca last week and the Special Assistance at the airport couldn’t have been better. Plus I got a ride in one of those fab buggies!

What would an illegitimate concern about migration look like or is everything legitimate now?

Ionian Sea. I think so yes.

This enormous yacht has shown up at the beach where we usually go swimming

You need @seatsixtyone.bsky.social

In Ithaca