Anna Page

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious? Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years …

NEW BLOGPOST

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?

thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...

Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard *literally* cures cancer

And I swear, once again, this is not dunking on kids. We are seeing this at all levels--even grad students. AI + social media has had a profound impact on how we think and process our world, and we can't stop to reflect on it, because billionaires keep hurling addictive tech at us.

Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.

Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...

Why wouldn’t you want to know? What have you got to fear? Losing your precious Brexit? Being revealed as a traitor and a liar?
Surely, anyone decent and honest who genuinely cares about our country and our democracy has nothing to lose from this. So, sign up.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

OU PIPS OU Politics, International Relations and Policy Society

Are you an @openuniversity.bsky.social student interested in speaking to other students about politics? If so, join @oupips.bsky.social – a great way to mark UK Parliament Week! #UKPW

Find out more here: oupips.org.uk

@ukparliament.parliament.uk

Shocking article in the Sheffield Tribune. A solicitor, Andrew Milne, buying up freeholds of houses and then making (false) threats to the leaseholders to bully them into buying the freehold at a huge premium.

If you can afford it, buy the folk at @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social a drink.
Take out a subs or bung them a donation.

www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/content/imag...

After Becky’s mum died, it was time to sell her childhood home. Then Andrew Milne got in touch Plus: As the search for answers continues, The Tribune takes to the road

Horrified, Becky read Milne’s words. “I accordingly am entitled to vacant possession of the property”, he asserted. “I am writing to give you 7 days notice that I will have a locksmith and agent attend to recover possession for me and change the locks”.

Latest update in our Andrew Milne story 👇

So to summarize, your image is packed with mistakes, uses an exploitative tech, fails to communicate a clear message, displays your ignorance, insults the people of that county, makes you look like environmental vandals and fails to describe your key demographic.

This is why you pay a designer. 7/7

Hey Labour

Remember the majority of voters who believe in treating people decently and not stealing from those who've endured months and years of hardship fleeing war and persecution to seek a place of safety?

We're still over here 👋

I would say: Support @hopenothate.org.uk and @makevotesmatter.bsky.social and volunteer for a progressive party of your choice.

I haven't endlessly criticised the BBC as it happens, but the Panorama edit does not warrant the reaction and it is no secret that the populist Right have been gunning for it for years. Weakening independent media is a classic authoritarian move

Information underpins Democracy – why the BBC must be defended Recent events at the BBC have wide-reaching implications for our democracy - and the sooner we realise it, the better

Information underpins democracy and the BBC is a key part of that.

We need to protect our institutions

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

NHS to take over state-of-the-art hospital from private health group in ‘windfall’ Nuffield Health to close London hospital after anticipated demand for private care fails to materialise

Some very welcome good news this morning.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

See also the apartheid clearance of multi-cultural District Six in Cape Town during the 1970s.

Mamdani’s victory is a rebuke to the failed strategies of the Democratic party | Moira Donegan The Democratic party appears listless and unprincipled, unwilling to fight because they do not believe in anything. Zohran Mamdani is the opposite of this

Mamdani’s victory is a rebuke to the failed strategies of the Democratic party | Moira Donegan

Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’ From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...

"But perhaps the most consequential long-term loss for federal science is that of institutional knowledge and expertise — and the downstream effects on the training of early-career researchers."

"We lost people with decades of experience and everyone who was very early career, ...”

Oh absolutely! The physical poverty of those living it and the poverty of souls of billionaires who hoard and don't share wealth. Pay their share to educate, feed and nourish fellow humans - ultimately enriches the lives of those sharing in ways they don't care to imagine or they'd do it willingly.

Testing is one tiny part of the story about reading ability (identifying it), the article doesn't explain how testing will help "tackle underachievement by working class children". We need to encourage a love of reading. Make real books available to children: reopen public and school libraries.

Log In Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.

If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.

Use the Quick Vote option.

Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them

Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand

secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...

[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS] 1 NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]: Hello there 2 [A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk]. DAD: Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids? 3 NT EMPLOYEE: Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail! 4 MUM: That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids? 5 NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]: Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot! 6 NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]: Listen - that's their call [Calls emanating from the landscape]: tut-tut woke-woke 7 NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]: They are extremely sensitive and fragile... But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery. 8 KIDS [pointing]: There they are! [Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure]. [Little people noises]: woke-woke tut-tut woke-woke 9 [Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]: Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house. [Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]: tut-tut woke-woke 10 MUM [pointing]: What's that one doing there? NT EMPLOYEE: Oh, that's so sweet… 11 [We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away]. NT EMPLOYEE: I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph… 12 [We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]: Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE? [ends]

If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

Musk and his ilk do not recognise that Tolkien would utterly despise them and their cynical, twisted misuse of Middle Earth.

This is not a good look for the Lib Dems. I speak as a 70 year old who has voted Lib/ LD the vast majority of my life

The assumption that asylum seekers are criminals and not to be trusted is wrong. The underlying xenophobia doesn't reflect well

@eddavey.libdems.org.uk

This edition by Chris is packed. Ironically, I believed that as Brexit unwound spectaculaly, people would turn against Brexitism and there'd be nothing to say.

Hasn't happened.

But maybe that is the real dragon for UK progressives to slay.

Read the piece here ⬇️

Ends

chrisgreybrexitblog....

Latest @chrisgrey.bsky.social piece is enlightening as usual.

Brexit has been a disaster; if LP call Farage out they need answers, and that means questioning their own Brexit position.

This process will have its own momentum.

(You who accuse him of being soft on Brexit or Labour are wrong)

1

This is where @andrewduffeu.bsky.social's suggestion of a royal commission comes in, as it would focus on the future, on the application, and set out what steps UKG must take. I would see this as making it a "national project" rather than a mere application.

This is a good idea.

4

This is Chris's consistent position.

I stil think that Labour should actually take the lead, send in the application, and ask for closer ties *without* cross-party consent. Otherwise it looks like politics and that they don't want to actually join.

Benefits would be immediate

2

FDR and most previous presidents had more understanding of their role as PUBLIC SERVANTS than the current incumbent.