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Public Sector Lawyer

@publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social
8K followers 791 following 3.2K posts

25 years lawyering, in Government Departments & independent public bodies in the UK. Statutory interpretation, constitutional, regulatory & criminal law.

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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 22h
New post: Burnham has opened the door to a "rejoin" manifesto pledge. The politics make more sense than a lot of people seem to realise. I look at what it would involve at every step from pledge to referendum. There are significant barriers but it can be done. samf.substack.com/p/the-route-...
samf.substack.com
The route back into the EU
Back in 2022 I wrote about the long-term prospects for undoing Brexit and made two predictions.
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
www.ft.com/content/267c...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I’d add that if magistrates’ powers are extended to 2 year prison terms, the original proposals that are being abolished here (terms up to 3 years) were unlikely to amount to many cases. See Justice Com report. Only a minor change. committees.parliament.uk/publications... bsky.app/profile/joan...
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Barbara Rich @barbararich.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The Lost Explorer - Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 I have written about lasting powers of attorney, deprivation of liberty, and the powers of the Court of Protection in connection with the “disappearance” of Sir Ranulph Fiennes bleakhouserevisited.substack.com/p/the-lost-e...
bleakhouserevisited.substack.com
The Lost Explorer
The ‘disappearance’ of Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
One way of cutting the pensions bill. If I'm still supporting my children when they're 25, no way I can retire in my 60s. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The nineteen-sixties actually began In nineteen eighty-three (which was rather late for me) - Between the start of the Relax ban And Bon Jovi's first LP. www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
thetimes.com
Did the Sixties really swing in Britain?
In Deep into the Sixties, the sixth volume of his history of modern Britain, David Kynaston reminds us that for most citizens the decade was full of bronchitis, boarding houses and bulldozed terraces
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If you'd just like to settle the usual fee with my accounts department, thanks. bsky.app/profile/publ...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Implementing the Leveson recommendations wouldn't have this effect: they'd still amount to a significant curb on jury trials. The Bill went a bit further but not much. (In fact possible the extra provisions were put in there in order to enable concessions.) bsky.app/profile/poli...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Democratic constitutions struggle everywhere to restrain determined authoritarians where politics are polarised. bsky.app/profile/samf...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Hope Again” somehow just reminds me of this. www.best-poems.net/philip_larki...
best-poems.net
Love Again poem - Philip Larkin
Love again: wanking at ten past three (Surely he's taken her home by now?), The bedroom hot as a bakery, The drink gone dead, without showing how To meet tomorr...
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Heather Green @votingrules.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The judgment in the 2015 Alistair Carmichael petition accepted that so-called 'self-talk' aimed at boosting one's own chances can engage s106.
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The paradox of ethnonationalism: claiming to be simple common sense, & resulting in insane bureaucratic nitpicking. bsky.app/profile/theh...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A reminder tonight that the Blue Labour eminence grise, Maurice Glasman, friend of the US extreme right, was optimistic about the new PM, including his retention of the Home Secretary. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Worrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I'm not necessarily against it, but proponents of compulsory voting do need to confront the issue of which parties sane people may currently want to vote for.
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"What's the actual scale of this?"
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A short explainer about the basis for this review, and some comments. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
independent.co.uk
Reform’s £72m election war chest could be hampered by spending rules review
Electoral Commission review into political spending will look at whether current limits ‘remain fit for purpose’
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Reposting this. Interested to know if anyone thinks it isn’t quite right. IE am I wrong about/overstating: 1) what the ‘high risk’ threshold often means 2) the constitutional position 3) the implications publicsectorlawyer179.substack.com/p/does-it-ma...
publicsectorlawyer179.substack.com
Does it matter if the Government deliberately breaks the law?
In a previous post ("No one likes being told they're breaking the law") I looked at how lawyers advise governments and others when what they’re doing or proposing to do is plainly, or highly likely to...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A follow-up from last week's post, on the Government's new Legal Risk Guidance. substack.com/@publicsecto...
substack.com
Does it matter if the Government deliberately breaks the law?
In a previous post ("No one likes being told they're breaking the law") I looked at how lawyers advise governments and others when what they’re doing or proposing to do is plainly, or highly likely to...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I think this article is based on a misunderstanding of the legislation, & illustrates some of the confusion about ‘retrospective legislation’. ‘Banning Reform’s £72m donations breaks the rule of law’ www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
thetimes.com
Banning Reform’s £72m donations breaks the rule of law
A terrible precedent would also backfire politically while legitimising Nigel Farage’s plans for retrospective action on migrants
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
How to square with the manifesto? I think that just says "Labour will retain the triple lock for the state pension." It doesn't say how long for. One option would be "for this Parliament". Would planning to remove it afterwards (if re-elected of course) help? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Scrapping triple lock on pensions need not wreak political damage
Moving to a double or single lock will make a genuine dent in the welfare bill
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
What may save them here is the fairly loose definition of ‘residence’ under electoral law (which means eg someone can be resident at 2 addresses), which isn’t the same as the definition for other purposes, eg tax. Spending time abroad wouldn’t automatically scupper it. bsky.app/profile/josi...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I think this comment reported by the BBC mixes up the general application of the new provisions with the transitional provisions for donations received before the legislation is commenced. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This post argues that the “high risk” orange zone identified in the AG Legal Risk Guidance usually equates to the view that something is simply unlawful. It partly concerns what a “tenable legal argument” means: do other lawyers have any experience or views on this? substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
“No one likes being told they’re breaking the law.”
What if the arguments against look so weak that it’s difficult to conclude otherwise?
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Thoughts on presenting unwelcome advice, prompted in part by the new AG Legal Risk Guidance. Of possible interest to @bymyong.bsky.social @ukcivilservant.bsky.social @jembenson.bsky.social @carlgardner.bsky.social @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social @sirjjkc.bsky.social. substack.com/@publicsecto...
substack.com
“No one likes being told they’re breaking the law.”
What if the arguments against look so weak that it’s difficult to conclude otherwise?
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Jonathan Jones @sirjjkc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here’s my piece for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on the government’s new legal risk guidance www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/new-...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
New government, new legal risk guidance | Institute for Government
New guidance is an insight into the government’s attitude to the law and legal risk.
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Jonathan Jones @sirjjkc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here’s the new government legal risk guidance. I’m writing about it for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk to come out later assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a9fce...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Could they have got it any more wrong? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Labour’s muddled migration policy won’t stop thuggery
A government that can’t distinguish between ‘legitimate concerns’ and open racism is only making things worse
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Bring back Suella, all is forgiven! assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a9e6e...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Worth a read, particularly given the influence polling often has on politics. bsky.app/profile/mark...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The findings of the previous investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into Nigel Farage are worth reading in the light of later developments. www.parliament.uk/globalassets...
parliament.uk
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Recommended on Substack by Ed West: interesting insight into this sort of support (“nagging doubt”, but also “lesser of two evils”), by reference also to similar support for Trump, Orban, & Franco. roddreher.substack.com/p/defending-...
roddreher.substack.com
Defending James Orr
The Senior Reform Advisor Resigns After Undercover Sting. It’s Not The Whole Story
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
“…bureaucrats that treat democratic mandates not as binding instructions but as temporary disruptions to be managed and absorbed….” Suggest reading this alongside the article in the post below. bsky.app/profile/ukcl... www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
politicshome.com
When Nigel Farage enters No 10, he will not fall into Whitehall's trap
Britain’s Civil Service has evaded responsibility for the decline of the state for too long – it is time to restore the primacy of ministerial powe...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
He was the People's Major. And that’s how he will stay, how he will remain, in our hearts and our memories, forever. bsky.app/profile/jahe...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's difficult to persuade govts of the value of scrutiny, but it can be self-defeating. See earlier in the thread on a potential error the Govt might have made with this Bill. And the number of Govt amends to Bills is indicative of the problem. bsky.app/profile/bric...
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Wow. A new Govt amendment to the Rep of the People Bill gives the Electoral Commission power to compel *any person* in the country to hand over documents about a political party's finances (There's no requirement to suspect wrongdoing and no court order needed. Criminal offence to refuse)
Secretary Angela Rayner _Gov_129
. Schedule 11, page 188, line 40, at end insert—
“(2A) In sub-paragraph (2), in the words before paragraph (a), after “disclosure
notice” insert “under this paragraph”.
(2B) In sub-paragraph (3), in the words before paragraph (a), at the beginning
insert “For the purposes of this paragraph,”.
(2C) In sub-paragraph (4), after “is given” insert “under this paragraph”.
(2D) After paragraph 1 insert—
“Further power to require disclosures about the finances of registered parties
etc
1A The Commission may give a disclosure notice under this paragraph
to any person, except as mentioned in sub-paragraph (3).
(1)
(2) For the purposes of this paragraph, a disclosure notice is a notice
requiring the person to whom it is given—
(a) to produce, for inspection by the Commission or a person
authorised by the Commission, any documents which—
(i) relate to the income and expenditure of an
organisation to which, or an individual to whom,
paragraph 1 applies, and
(ii) are reasonably required by the Commission for the
purposes of carrying out their functions; or
(b) to provide the Commission, or a person authorised by the
Commission, with any information or explanation which
relates to that income and expenditure and is reasonably
required by the Commission for those purposes.
(3) A disclosure notice under this paragraph may not require an
organisation to which, or an individual to whom, paragraph 1
applies to produce documents, or provide information or an
explanation, which relates to the organisation’s or individual’s own
income and expenditure.
(4) A person to whom a disclosure notice is given under this paragraph
must comply with it within such reasonable time as is specified in
the notice.
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Katie Lam (deportation plans ditched because too extreme even for KB) & Andrew Griffith (Treasury Minister under Truss for the mini-budget)? But perhaps mostly to do with Tom Tugendhat, despite his hawkishness & long abandonment of any ‘One Nation’ credentials. bsky.app/profile/jahe...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Good essay (whatever your views of the book). I note this bit here (which presumably TB would’ve agreed with) does seem predicated on the ‘Westminster’ view of the constitution. Is this then generally treated by lawyers & academics as correct? bsky.app/profile/spin...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
If anything I’d’ve thought this to be the other way round. ‘Autobiography’ literally means a person’s account of their own life, whereas ‘memoirs’ sound like they ought to be based on actual memories. www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
On Reform’s constitutional plans. One test here, to adopt a real life example from 2019, cited in the author’s lecture that seemed to rile Mr Kruger: how should the civil service react if asked by a PM to ignore an Act of Parliament? bsky.app/profile/ukcl...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
‘The truth is complicated’ - explanation here from the Good Law Project about donations here which doesn’t seem to me to have cleared matters up. goodlawproject.org/statement-ab...
goodlawproject.org
Statement about the BBC and our fundraising | Good Law Project
A BBC correction requires further clarification
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
X vs Bluesky. open.substack.com/pub/ianlesli...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
500 million of them. www.thetimes.com/article/7552...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Is it possible to visit Paris without hearing the strains of Our Last Summer? It must be the darkest of ABBA songs, & perhaps also the bravest? A lesbian affair failing to survive transitioning wasn’t a standard subject in 1980.
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Reposted by Public Sector Lawyer
Tom Kelsey @tomkelsey.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Does the Treasury deserve its reputation for holding back the British economy? My new article in The Political Quarterly uses the histories of Concorde and civil nuclear power to challenge common arguments about the Treasury, industrial strategy, and state capacity. 🧵
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Could be similarly significant in reverse. bsky.app/profile/publ...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
So it looks like the payout will be more than standard after all. (See thread below on confused reports at the time.) bsky.app/profile/publ...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Thoughtful piece on this by @stephenkb.bsky.social. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... The difficult truth about Jason Arday
giftarticle.ft.com
The difficult truth about Jason Arday
From the beginning, investigations were accompanied by a cloud of excessive references to his race
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Every time I read this, over several decades, it seems to get better. bsky.app/profile/zami...
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Public Sector Lawyer @publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Chris Mason doesn't accept the cock-up explanation for the resignation reported in the Times recently. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
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