Moving house and came across these which for a few years didn’t leave my desk and I knew far too well. Beautiful Brexit trauma memories

I’ve published a briefing giving an overview of all things Greenland if you haven’t had your fill already commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

President Trump and Greenland: Frequently asked questions

President Trump has expressed interest in the US acquiring Greenland. Greenland, the UK, and most European countries, are opposed to this

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

I’ve published a short briefing on the US’s capture of Nicolás Maduro I’m sure it will need updating soon… commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

The US capture of Nicolás Maduro

This briefing looks at the January 2026 US military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, statements by President Trump and US officials, the UK and international response, and questi...

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

There has been a sustained focus on state threats & foreign interference activities in the UK over the last few weeks, including a debate on the impact of foreign interference on security, trade & democracy in the Commons yesterday. Below are some relevant Library briefings that might be of interest

When the House sits late, the Commons library stays open 📚 On Monday nights, library services are available to MPs and their staff, long after the sun sets. Follow John for a quick tour of one of Parliament's key services.

I put together a short briefing with David Torrance on state visits to the UK. Found out a few interesting nuggets while researching it Also includes a spreadsheet of all state visits since 1952 including addresses to Parliament commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

State visits to the UK

What are state visits? Who decides who is invited? Who pays the costs? What is the format of a state visit? Do they always include addresses to Parliament?

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Extending a session does bring issues, such as needing to add extra Opposition Days and days for consideration of Private Members’ Bills, which are fixed at 20 and 13 per session, respectively. Though the Government isn’t obliged to do so. All 13 PMB days have been used this session.

Paul Brand@paulbrand.bsky.social · 11mo ago

NEW: The government has announced that this session of parliament will last until spring 2026. Among other things, that means that the assisted dying bill has another 7-8 months to complete its passage through the Lords, increasingly the likelihood of it becoming law.

NEW: The government has announced that this session of parliament will last until spring 2026. Among other things, that means that the assisted dying bill has another 7-8 months to complete its passage through the Lords, increasingly the likelihood of it becoming law.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published its first report of the session today on the ‘Israel-Palestine conflict’. One of their recommendations is that the UK Government “should now recognise the state of Palestine” (though it divided on this issue) committees.parliament.uk/publications...

The US State Department has not published its annual country human rights reports which are usually put out in Spring. The FCDO have not published their annual human rights report in two years. I would just like me some good up to date official sources for this stuff.

My Reception year teacher was still using ITA in 1989! And it caused me difficulties reading as I’d already learned to read using the normal alphabet before I started school. Thankfully, a new headteacher came in and made her stop using it www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The radical 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of children unable to spell

Decades ago, a generation of UK schoolchildren unwittingly took part in an initiative aimed at boosting reading skills – with lasting consequences

theguardian.com

Realised that the only cold drinks in my fridge currently are non-alcoholic beers. Would feel rather wrong to drink them whilst working during the middle of the day however…

We published a briefing on Iran’s nuclear programme and the ongoing Israeli-Iranian military strikes commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Israel-Iran 2025: Developments in Iran's nuclear programme and military action

On 13 June 2025, Israel launched a series of attacks against Iran’s nuclear programme.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

EU-UK agreement on Gibraltar reached (at political level, full legal text to come) www.gov.uk/government/n...

UK-EU Agreement in Respect of Gibraltar: Joint statement

A joint statement from the UK, European Commission, Spain and Gibraltar following talks today (11 June) in Brussels.

gov.uk

Think this is the first time I’ve gone to a Chatham House event with protestors outside. Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s effective Prime Minister, is speaking at 11

Defence Secretary will make a statement to the House of Commons on the Strategic Defence Review around 3.30 pm First opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny Our FAQ’s briefing gives the background and links to several others that give the context commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

The forthcoming strategic defence review 2025: FAQ

The government will publish a strategic defence review in 2025, considering threats to the UK and how to meet them. What do we know about it so far?

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

I published a briefing on Friday on the latest military confrontation between India & Pakistan over Kashmir. It also looks at the origins of the Kashmir dispute, international reaction to the current crisis, and analysis of how it escalated commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Kashmir: Renewed India-Pakistan tensions

This briefing looks at the May 2025 military confrontation between India and Pakistan, sparked by the Pahalgam attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir in April 2025. It explores the historical basis fo...

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

You wait months for a trade deal then two come along at once…. Urgent Question on US-UK trade agreement scheduled then withdrawn- now we have a government statement on “trade negotiations”, suggesting agreement, at least in principle, has been reached

My only advice on the ongoing India-Pakistan military crisis is to take any claims by either military to the media with a large shovel of salt at first.

Those wanting to know more about the newly announced India-UK trade agreement may want to tune into Douglas Alexander’s urgent statement to the House of Commons, which should start around 4.15/4.30.

Is there a more appreciated meal than a McDonalds after post-work drinks?

Today, the House of Lords International Agreements Committee published some evidence on treaty scrutiny that I jointly wrote with @hhesterm.bsky.social committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide... (Short 🧵)

Ahead of the recall of parliament my colleague Ilze has published a briefing on the UK steel industry. Impressive work commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

UK steel industry: statistics and policy

The UK steel industry: a statistical summary of the UK and international industry; analysis of current prospects and challenges; summary of government policy.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Next month (19 May) the UK will host a first 'EU-UK Summit', a major moment in UK government's desired 're-set' to relations For background, @stefanofella.bsky.social has produced a very useful research briefing for House of Commons Library researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CB...

Published a briefing yesterday on Myanmar’s civil war, including the effects of the March earthquake commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Myanmar's civil war

Myanmar’s civil war is ongoing. This Commons Library research briefing sets out the conflict’s origins, current state of the conflict, and the UK and international response. It also covers the effects...

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

They’re letting Barry Keoghan have another go at a Merseyside accent?

The Government's new legislation to change guidelines on sentencing: the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill, will have its second reading on 22 April, and all other Commons' stages on 30 April.

A bit late to this, but I note that the Government announced yesterday that the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme will go live on 1 July, and Iran and Russia, will be added to the enhanced tier, but not China. www.gov.uk/government/s...

Foreign Influence Registration Scheme implementation

Government announces the implementation of regulations of Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, specifying Russia under the enhanced tier.

gov.uk

1) NEW REPORT 🚨 'Reform of Stormont: Options for Discussion' was published by the @conunitucl.bsky.social today! Co-authored by @alanrenwick.bsky.social, @alanwhysall.bsky.social, and myself. It is free to read here: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution...

Reform of Stormont

A project exploring possible reforms to Northern Ireland's governing institutions, as an aid to further discussion.

ucl.ac.uk

In the context of the strategic defence review which we expect to be published soon, I've published a new briefing on the UK's tilt to the Indo-Pacific, its original ambitions & developments since including under the new Labour government commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

The UK's tilt to the Indo-Pacific and what's next for its policy to the region?

This briefing looks at UK's 'tilt to the Indo-Pacific', as first set out in the 2021 Integrated Review under the Conservative government. The goals the tilt achieved in deepening the UK's defence, for...

commonslibrary.parliament.uk