Stephen Swan
@stephenswan.bsky.social
Lawyer (non practising). Constitutional law, criminal law, EU & international law. Legal history, Astronomy & astrophysics, planetary geology, climate science & biodiversity, classics & ancient history, the supernatural & folklore.
Lillian Jones MP, Chairwoman @uktradebusiness.bsky.social: "Burnham stressed that the next summit will be a moment to set out the different options for the UK’s relationship with the EU. This is a watershed moment. No PM has put the full range of options on the table since May drew her red lines."
Britain needs a new deal with Europe that works for everyone | LBC
The Prime Minister has opened up a conversation about our long-term relationship with the EU. As Chairwoman of the UK Tr
lbc.co.uk
"The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to the South African legal pioneer Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for defending international law and institutions in a world in which increasingly “might overtakes right.” www.nbcnews.com/world/europe...
Billionaire David Reuben says he quit UK for Monaco ... actually already there since 2014. Worth £28bn, objects to non-dom tax changes. Doesn't want to be taxed on the same basis as UK residents Super-rich happy to make profits in the UK, want special treatment, hold govts to ransom.
‘I reside in Monaco’: billionaire said to have quit UK over potential wealth tax had already left
TaxWatch contradicts claims about David Reuben’s departure and questions stories of super-rich exodus
theguardian.com
This is a brilliant assessment/conversation by Niall and Alex. Please read and share. Any substantive comments by me would be superfluous.
Niall Ó Conghaile@nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 2w agoRealism still needed for Europe debate in UK. Will Andy Burnham provide it? Me in @eastangliabylines.co.uk Enjoy! eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
Lovely reply, Alex, and open and honest. I feel for those civil servants, like yourself.
For Georgians, joining the EU wasn’t a purely economic matter, but a statement of identity, values, freedom from Russia, escape from their past, and hope for a more prosperous future, secure future. The UK has never viewed the EU through that prism.
Truly expanded and deepened when I served in third countries, and began to understand how they viewed the EU, how important the EU was to them, and the influence, values and principles which the EU represented. My posting in Georgia was the culmination of my education.
Anyway, it’s what Ministers think which matters most. I just don’t know if any of our politicians truly “get” the EU. I was myself a bit of a eurosceptic when I worked in the Cabinet Office, and was purely focused on the domestic UK perspective. My understanding and appreciation of the EU only…
It turns out that much of our bureaucracy goes along- and says and does what will most please Ministers. There’s a fine line between being an honorable , loyal civil servant - who’s job ultimately is, of course , to do Minister’s bidding , and being toadies, derelict in their duty to the public.
Niall, honestly, I don’t know- I’m no longer in touch with current FCDO staff. Unfortunately, one cause of my disillusionment with the FCDO was that I expected more of them to speak up about the catastrophe of Johnson’s Brexit - but it seems most senior staff valued their job and status more.
And it is sad. The UK is adrift. Question for you: within the FCDO do diplomats understand this, and do they favour the kind of action needed to fix it?
Hi Alex, thanks for that. Whatever about the rebalancing after Brexit, Canada recognises the Union as the anchor or Western democracy and treats it as a significant partner in that light. The UK, as yet, does not. The final steps will be hard to take unless leaders make that case.
Sadly, I agree completely with your analysis @nialloconghaile.bsky.social . This is what I wrote last month (before Burnham’s speech). bylinetimes.com/2026/09/17/w...
Realism still needed for Europe debate in UK. Will Andy Burnham provide it? Me in @eastangliabylines.co.uk Enjoy! eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
Britain still hasn’t learnt what being outside the EU means
Closer ties with Europe require Britain to abandon exceptionalism and understand what being outside the EU means
eastangliabylines.co.uk
I am always impressed by the courage of people who fight and have fought against Brexit, esp. those who have given up jobs or career advantages to be able to do so. (I fear I would be a coward in the same situation)
Case in point, indeed bsky.app/profile/alex...
Alex Hall Hall@alexhh.bsky.social · 2w agoNiall, honestly, I don’t know- I’m no longer in touch with current FCDO staff. Unfortunately, one cause of my disillusionment with the FCDO was that I expected more of them to speak up about the catastrophe of Johnson’s Brexit - but it seems most senior staff valued their job and status more.
Exclusive: the government doesn’t want you to know who’s advising it on civil service reform medium.com/state-of-the...
Exclusive: the government doesn’t want you to know who’s advising it on civil service reform
The short version
medium.com
The CJEU has ruled again on the conflict between data protection rights and transparency of corporate ownership Analysis by Dr Samira Allioui - eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-...
The interplay between corporate transparency and personal data protection: A new stage in the CJEU’s case law
Dr Samira Allioui , Centre d'études internationales et européennes, Université de Strasbourg Photo credit : Alexas Fotos, via Wikimedi...
eulawanalysis.blogspot.com
Navi Pillay — the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a former International Criminal Court judge — happened to be at the Nuremberg Court in Germany when she learned that she had won the Nobel.
Nobel Peace Prize: Navanethem Pillay, a tireless advocate for international justice
Nobel Peace Prize: Navanethem Pillay, a tireless advocate for international justice
The 85-year-old South African judge, who notably served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the 1990s, recently chaired the United Nations Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry, which determined that a 'genocide' was taking place in Gaza.
lemonde.fr
From Aberdeen to Lambeth, Newcastle-under-Lyme to Holborn & St Pancras, Reform contested five by-elections yesterday. 💪 They lost all five… 😬 Five contests. Five defeats. That’s eleven out of eleven lost in a fortnight. Reform are not inevitable. 😉 Have a great weekend! #ReformLose
A shadowy network of hedgehogs and owls, operating at the highest levels of the British establishment.
1. BREAKING The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay. Pillay is a South African jurist of Indian Tamil descent.
Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax proposals are myth-based policy making at its worst. That's the verdict from @jillongovt.bsky.social following the leader of the opposition’s conference speech this week. Read the full comment here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/kemi...
Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax proposals are myth-based policy making at its worst | Institute for Government
The leader of the opposition’s conference announcement was not well thought through.
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Good piece. The line that really caught my eye here was this one: "Lobby journalists, while being supportive in print, are typically unimpressed with Badenoch in person". It speaks volumes about how the Tory press sees its role, and its attitude towards the truth of what it prints.
New post: The Tory conference represented a clear change in strategy. But so far the shift has been largely superficial and rhetorical. There are three big problems with making the strategy work - and it is not at all clear they're resolvable. samf.substack.com/p/the-three-...
The three big problems with the Tories’ new strategy
The Tories have finally noticed their only route back to power goes through the prosperous seats in the home counties and city suburbs lost to the Liberal Democrats and Labour.
samf.substack.com
