Legislation

Following its successful passage through the House of Commons in July, the Hillsborough Law (formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill) is due to commence its legislative journey through the House of Lords in the coming weeks. As … [Read more...] about The Hillsborough Law: Where Are We Now?

When the Representation of the People Bill 2026 enters committee stage in the House of Commons later this month, MPs will begin scrutinising one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting UK elections for many years. This moment … [Read more...] about A New Government Bill: Elections May Never be the Same 

In recent years, Parliament has increasingly enacted ‘named laws’: legislation framed in response to, and in commemoration of, high-profile individuals or groups who have suffered a harm that the new law is intended to prevent or address. Named laws, … [Read more...] about Lawmaking as Memorial: Named Laws in the UK

Introduction  Eric Barendt, in his 2009 article Freedom of Expression in the United Kingdom under the Human Rights Act 1998, begins with a stark observation: “English law has traditionally taken little or no notice of freedom of speech.” I … [Read more...] about A Very Short History of Freedom of Speech

The introduction of a national digital ID scheme wasn’t in the 2024 Labour Party manifesto. It now seems a significant omission. National ID schemes have a rather chequered history, and Labour preferred not to reignite the debate during the general … [Read more...] about Identity – The Crisis You Can’t See: Time for digital ID?

Reform UK’s announcements on immigration and asylum have generated a lot of attention of late. While challenges and objections are expected, little has yet been written on what these challenges might be. This post considers some … [Read more...] about Legal and Devolution Challenges Lie Ahead for Reform’s Immigration Policy

Introduction At half past noon on 26 April 2006, a chorus of MPs shouted "Resign"! Labour’s Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, was due to make a statement to the House of Commons. The papers were awash with condemnation of the Blair Government’s … [Read more...] about Foreign Criminal Deportation in Review: Rules, Rights & Laws

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Politicians lying is the oldest ethical question in the book. In February, though, the Welsh Parliament’s Standards Committee recommended that political candidates who deliberately mislead the … [Read more...] about Truth, Lies, and Who Decides

The Facts  On Saturday, 12 April 2025, Parliament was recalled to enact “emergency legislation” conferring upon the Government powers take control of British Steel’s blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, to prevents its Chinese owners from shutting … [Read more...] about Anything but Ironclad: Enacting the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 

If you ask any first-year constitutional law student which branch of government makes and amends the laws, they will (probably) dutifully answer – the legislature. Such is the received wisdom, but I would challenge them (and others) to think again … [Read more...] about The Hidden Threat: How Henry VIII Powers Weaken Democracy

I have a special interest in privacy – back in the 1980s my father’s love letters to my mother, penned in Margaret Thatcher’s England, would arrive in Poland with a censorship stamp from the communist government. Now, with Clause 122 of the Online … [Read more...] about Online Safety Act: Privacy Threats and Free Speech Risks

The judgement of MPs In a much-quoted speech in 1774, Edmund Burke, newly elected Member of Parliament for Bristol, argued 'Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he … [Read more...] about Free votes: a democratic ideal?