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Phil Syrpis

@syrpis.bsky.social
12K followers 1.9K following 1.2K posts

Professor of EU Law at the University of Bristol. On here mainly for inexpert political noodling and discussion, with occasional forays into EU law. And, puns. Sorry.

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Reposted by Phil Syrpis
The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
NEW The diabolical defending of Manchester City Understanding an aggressive litigation strategy By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk (Prospect paywall is down currently.) www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th... #MCFC
What can explain such an aggressive and counterproductive approach? To an extent the answer may be in the facts and the evidence. Perhaps the view was that the only chance of getting out of this was to be unhelpful as well as robust. In respect of an earlier dispute with Uefa, an internal communication at the club apparently said “Uefa doesn't respond to anything other than aggression”. Maybe the view was taken that this would work here too. Maybe the club still thinks it will work in the end, with the league being pushed into settlement on appeal or at the doors of the High Court.

But this does not offer a total explanation. What may work with Uefa may not work with other adversaries. The structure of the league’s investigation and the disciplinary approach meant that aggression would not only be unhelpful, but would count heavily against the club. An appeal on the law or procedure at the High Court in this sort of case only has a remote chance of success. It can be assumed the club was warned of all this.

There is a phrase in football punditry that “the defending is diabolical”. Here diabolical is, of course, a synonym for dreadful. But in its more literal sense, diabolical means bedevilled with wrongful purpose. And the strategy adopted by Manchester City in contesting this matter is also in this sense diabolical. The club will have known that it was unlikely to work, and that it would make things harder, but the club decided to do it anyway.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A couple of really radical options - engage in Brussels with why the UK wants to talk and what the EU is actually prepared to offer - learn from what has mostly failed in the approach to the EU question for the last ten years Which would quickly narrow the path forward.
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Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Absolute tosh" is the kind of British understatement I was looking for to describe this warped proposal of wanting to rejoin the EU, but not just the one that is there, and thinking an ex-member can dictate the terms of reforms... The more I think about it, the more absolute tosh it becomes.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
So, Tony Blair thinks that Britain should rejoin the EU. No, hang on, he thinks we should join a ‘reformed’ EU. Which does the things that the TBI is advocating for. And that we can, from outside the EU, get the reforms we want. 1/2
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Kenneth Armstrong @profkaarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
NEW! What would “associate” EU membership for Canada look like and why it might not happen.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
And now the big story is promoting Earl Spencer’s book and the battle for Diana’s legacy. I’m only waiting for Match of the Day…
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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Oi Canada! Cosying up to the EU and pushing UK to the back of the line? my new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk blog on the Carney-VDL love-in in Strasbourg www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/carn...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Carney, Canada and the EU: Will the UK’s Brexit hopes fade further from view? | Institute for Government
Fresh EU thinking on Canada may not give the UK more post-Brexit options.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This strikes me as a very good summary. Key line: 'We simply do not know what associate membership means exactly.' I'd add that, historically, the EU has not been the most agile when it comes to developing ad hoc arrangements (see, eg, with Ukraine).
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Piddington. 'Ruin a film by changing a letter' territory.
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Luke McGee @lukemcgee.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
What if the strongest argument for rethinking Brexit isn't economic at all? What if it's British sovereignty? A thought experiment about Brexit, Northern Ireland and whether we've been asking the wrong question for the past decade. My latest Substack lukemcgee.substack.com/p/is-the-bes...
lukemcgee.substack.com
Is the best argument for reversing Brexit actually British sovereignty?
Rejoiners like to talk about economics. But Northern Ireland’s fate might be harder to ignore.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In much the same way that the people of Clacton do not and should not have the final word on breaches of Parliamentary standards, the people of Holborn and St Pancras do not and should not have the final word on drilling in the North Sea. Why do politicians make such absurd claims?
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A little thread with some half-formed thoughts about 'big picture geopolitics'. Understandably, much of the focus has been on the US, and on Trump. Other States' reaction to the US and Trump(ism) is the focus of this. 🧵 1/6
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A little thread with some half-formed thoughts about 'big picture geopolitics'. Understandably, much of the focus has been on the US, and on Trump. Other States' reaction to the US and Trump(ism) is the focus of this. 🧵 1/6
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Thangam Debbonaire @thangamdebbonaire.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A very useful guide from @stephenkb.bsky.social to the difference between legitimate concerns and racism, and how that muddled approach leads to muddled policy. Also. Racist thuggery isn’t protest. 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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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Parts of this really should not be difficult. You *can* have legitimate concerns about a lot of things, and protest about them peacefully. What you *cannot* do is mask up, join up with 300 others, and block roads, burn houses, and threaten people.
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Dr Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
On reflection I’m considerably angrier about the lack of response from the government to yesterday’s blockade of the port of Dover than the policing, though I am very worried by what looks like a massive intelligence failure. Sometimes “disperse then scoop them up later” is a reasonable choice. BUT
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 06/09/2026
So in one week: 1) Reform get stung for dodgy finances, and the regulators play pass the parcel about enforcement 2) Farage announces plans to largely dismantle independent scrutiny of govt, and barely any press discussion of it 3) Masked thugs blockade a port, with narry a word from senior govt
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Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A vacuous, cowardly piece by the BBC here, which does little more than launder into the public domain the lies and excuses of Reform www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Nigel Farage tells BBC he 'wasn't listening' in foreign donor talks
The Reform leader also told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that his family are "begging" him to leave his job.
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Steve Bullock @guitarmoog.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A dictator on day one. We’ve seen how this played out in the US. We’ve seen what it means. The people, politicians and media of the UK have been given several years’ prior warning. There’s no excuse for claiming exaggeration or alarmism now, or surprise or regret later.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Donations apart… the immediate state of emergency; getting Parliament to sit 24 hours a day, 6 days a week; the threats to stuff the House of Lords, gut the Civil Service, and neuter the judiciary; and the policy of deporting immigrants en masse… ought to be ringing alarm bells.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I do hope there’s a stall selling oysters at the Reform conference. And that you can’t buy fewer than half a dozen at a time.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The Electoral Commission appears to be straightforwardly wrong about its role and responsibilities in law as the regulator when it says publicly "Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider". It is the core job of the Electoral Commission
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
In fairness to the BBC they did cover illegal tobacco sales on the high street. And the return of Meghan and Harry. Hats off to Channel Four!
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Well, this is a marmalade dropper
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
New Substack post: ‘Edge Case Wars’ - Have the Culture Wars Been Misnamed? rolandmcs.substack.com/p/edge-case-...
rolandmcs.substack.com
‘Edge Case Wars’
Have the culture wars been misnamed?
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Alberto Alemanno @alemanno.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Europe’s socialists, liberals and greens can either let the EU stray further away from the values they cherish, or end their collusion with the @eppgroup.bsky.social allowing this drift It’s their last chance My latest for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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The Times and Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 14/08/2026
🔺 BREAKING: Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor, has been found dead, police have said Mr Arday was pronounced dead after being found “unresponsive” at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon Read more 👇
apple.news
Jason Arday, former Cambridge University professor, found dead — The Times and The Sunday Times
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
New post out: "The myth of the 'Boriswave'" The online right claim that the immigrants who arrived between 21-24 will bankrupt the country. This isn't remotely true but they've created a mainstream panic that could lead us down a dangerous path. (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
samf.substack.com
The myth of the "Boriswave"
Over summer 2024 anonymous right-wing accounts on twitter, who support Reform or more extreme ethnonationalist parties, started using the term “Boriswave” to describe the brief but sharp rise in net m...
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Has anyone read anything good on why the east coast is such fertile ground for the extreme right? (Lincolnshire, East Anglia, the Essex and Kent coasts) Demographics aren't wildly different to other areas where it's much less pronounced.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Morning!
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Remember when (feels like a long time ago…) Keir Starmer had a genie? It looks like Andy Burnham has found it. Rubs lamp. ‘Let the opposition implode.’ Watches Polanski, Farage and Badenoch. Allows himself a flutter of the eyelashes.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The Joshua Bonehill-Paine story has got me thinking about rehabilitation and second chances. In particular, the circumstances in which we decide to give people a second chance, versus the circumstances in which we don't. 1/5 🧵
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
BBC headline: Trump to Iran: make a deal or face ‘decapitation’. Truly the master of persuasion and diplomacy.
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Simon Nixon @nixonsimon.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
How Europe lost the Battle of Ceuta; the four horsemen of the summer apocalypse; why Europe faces a climate sovereign doom loop; and why the Clacton by-election is not a joke - latest edition of Wealth of Nations just published open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...
open.substack.com
Europe's Defeat
How Europe lost the Battle of Ceuta; the four horsemen of the summer apocalypse; why Europe faces a climate sovereign doom loop; and why the Clacton by-election is not a joke
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Sean Danaher @seand5.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Culmination of my seven-part series on Brexit for the 10th anniversary of the disastrous referendum. Please circulate widely. @chrisgrey.bsky.social @ottocr.at @fascinatorfun.bsky.social @guitarmoog.bsky.social @nialloconghaile.bsky.social northeastbylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
northeastbylines.co.uk
Brexit Part 7: The Way Forward is Joining the EU, but How?
There is increasing consensus that Brexit was a terrible mistake. The slogan "Make Brexit Work" is an oxymoron. Brexit cannot work. Joining the EU is the only way forward.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
An excellent essay on the importance of the legislative branch from my colleague Robert Greally. Highly recommended. democracyproject.org/posts/the-de...
democracyproject.org
The Decline of the Legislative Branch and the Crisis of Statecraft
A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.
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Ben Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Love everything about this conversation between the new Prime Minister and a care home resident who didn’t realise he was.
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Charlotte Weatherill @ckweatherill.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Full of despair today. Massive lay offs in social sciences and humanities across the country, Burnham puts out a video saying 'AI can write an essay', and my university is busy integrating co-pilot into all staff and student computers. We are being told we're defunct and there's no resistance.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
One unleashes the *hounds* of Hell, not the gates of Hell, you illiterate moron.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 23/07/2026
If you had a choice between instantly receiving £50,000 or a 50% chance to win £1m, which would you pick? £50,000: 73% 50/50 chance of winning £1m: 21% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
These daily 6am treats. Are they going to keep on coming? Or is this just a summer recess relationship we’re all enjoying?
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@davidgauke @davidgauke.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
There are some important lessons to be learnt from the failures of the Conservative government of 2019-2024 but it looks like both Burnham & Badenoch are learning the wrong ones. My ConHome piece on the new government plus “the purge of the wets”. conservativehome.com/2026/07/20/d...
conservativehome.com
David Gauke: Getting the blame game wrong - you purge if you want to but it's lazy who they are purging | Conservative Home
Look at the drivers of the decline of the Conservatives’ popularity: there was always likely to be a moment when Johnson’s lack of integrity was likely to cause a political crisis; there was always li...
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Today's the day. Burnham has close to 100% support in the Labour Party. With every policy he announces, some will be disappointed. Left-leaning Chancellor? Closer relationship with the EU? Clear commitment to net-zero? Electoral reform? Let's see what happens...
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
"A closed country will be poorer. A country that underinvests will not grow. A state that refuses to reform tax will ration ambition. And a Labour government afraid to say these things will discover once again that caution, too, has costs." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Burnham must learn from Starmer’s mistakes: Labour was elected to transform the economy, not just stabilise it | Jonathan Portes
Devolution, tax, the EU and immigration: these are all opportunities for growth if Burnham abandons the excessive caution of the past few years, says economist Jonathan Portes
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I may speak for many people of a certain age, when I say that my disappointed tonight is (slightly) tempered by the fact that the next generations are feeling the same feelings I had in the 1990s. These things don’t come easily. Scratch that - they don’t happen. Just hard luck stories.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
England, now. ‘We can beat these.’
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Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My son just told me is favourite sentence is: “I didn’t say we should kill him” because if you emphasise each different word it changes the entire meaning
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Excellent review, this. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
theguardian.com
The Brexit Effect, 2016-2026 edited by Anthony Seldon review – life without EU
Essays by the great and the good address the legacy of Brexit, but ignore the nationalist elephant in the room
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Not usually one to give advice to the Tories… but if you are going to have insane policies on climate change, maybe don’t make the insane policy announcements in the middle of a heatwave? There’s more than a small risk people will think you’re insane.
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Phil Syrpis @syrpis.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
He’s only going to U-turn again on pub opening hours, isn’t he. FFS.
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