Two huge news stories have overshadowed the long-awaited release of the Kelly Report on MPs' expenses - but I suppose that's what happens when "genuine" news break, rather than the long-awaited and much-leaked (if also far-reaching and important) proposals by a review panel are finally made public. What chance, then, for the Lib Dems' new site, Read more... )

The trouble I've always had with this blog is that the people that respond to it most, I keep in contact with by other means (this has been especially so since the advent of GoogleTalk). So my blogging has been patchy at best - but, with perseverence that could only be compared to a certain Labour politician (you may need to forward to June 30 for ( Read more... )

Hmm, time... it's an odd concept, isn't it? It passes surprisingly quickly, and points in time that seemed a long way off have suddenly been passed. It's odd.

Anyway, first off, ( a long-overdue update on my life in Luxembourg )

After the massive post yesterday, spent the day visiting the ECJ at the invitation of r_e_mercia, going into town for a quick shop with my housemates, and "unpacking" (by which I mainly mean spending time online) in the evening. Here are a few impressions from my first full day in Lux

( Top three good things to say about Lux )

My my, all the recent activity on my Friends page has persuaded me to actually update this rather than reading any more news stories on the BBC (there are some interesting ones, like this one about the US newspaper industry, this one about a changed attitude by the UK government to acknowledging its involvement in torture [though obviously still ( Read more... )

... and actually leaving Oxford. I still can't believe this day has arrived, and that I'm not going to be back amongst the spires for at least four (and possibly even six) weeks ( Read more... )

Just a quick thanks to peu_de_larme for allowing me to use some of her pics for profile pic purposes (as in this entry, and also this and the previous one. Now, if only I can get her to actually join LJ...

Friends may also notice the return of an old image - that of Merton, which I may not get the chance to use that much any more. Sad times.

Who'd have thought the International Committee of Jurists, headed by Mary Robinson (former President of Eire and UN Human Rights Commissioner), would conclude that international law as a whole, and judicial protection of liberties within individual countries in particular, has suffered as a result of the 'war on terror'All the more shocking, then, ( Read more... )

According to this piece on the BBC News, the whole furore over the failure to disclose the information was a bit of an over-statement, and the court is to be asked to re-consider (again - for what will be the 4th time, I think) its judgment ( Read more... )

I'm glad Nick Clegg has pointed out that this all "smacks of a cover-up".

You can read the case yourself here - you can thank my legal research skillz for that ;)

Here's ( my 'summary' of the case - really, more a collection of the most interesting parts of the judgment )