James Chalmers
@jameschalmers.bsky.social
Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Nothing should be inferred from the absence of unnecessary disclaimers on this profile.
Reposted by James Chalmers
This is among the funniest things I have read all year and I laughed out loud several times. Highly, highly recommended. It reminded me of the best days of Deadspin.
I wrote 4000 words about Nuzzi/Lizza/RFK, please read it before it gets taken down by HR
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our time
www.theringer.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
This is among the funniest things I have read all year and I laughed out loud several times. Highly, highly recommended. It reminded me of the best days of Deadspin.
Devlin (1966) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Jury trials in England and Wales to be scrapped except for most serious cases on.ft.com/3LY1Ceq
Jury trials in England and Wales to be scrapped except for most serious cases
Proposed changes unlikely to apply for trials of serious offences such as rape and murder
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Devlin (1966) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
that milkshake completes the smorgasbord / ‘cause Wes says it’s sweeter than yours / damn right it’s sweeter than yours / that’s the sugar, see, we’ve got to charge
(a penny on income tax and no-one would have had to endure reading this)
(a penny on income tax and no-one would have had to endure reading this)
*pinches bridge of nose, rubs temples, lays head down slowly on desk*
November 24, 2025 at 11:22 PM
that milkshake completes the smorgasbord / ‘cause Wes says it’s sweeter than yours / damn right it’s sweeter than yours / that’s the sugar, see, we’ve got to charge
(a penny on income tax and no-one would have had to endure reading this)
(a penny on income tax and no-one would have had to endure reading this)
Academics in non-law disciplines: is it common to be told by a journal that your review of an article has to provide a summary of the article you're reviewing? Is this some sort of device to check that you actually read it?
November 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Academics in non-law disciplines: is it common to be told by a journal that your review of an article has to provide a summary of the article you're reviewing? Is this some sort of device to check that you actually read it?
I don’t use Amazon that much any more but I recently sent someone a link to a USB charging cable they needed so Amazon reckons I can be drawn back in by the opportunity to build my dream USB cable collection.
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I don’t use Amazon that much any more but I recently sent someone a link to a USB charging cable they needed so Amazon reckons I can be drawn back in by the opportunity to build my dream USB cable collection.
Alongside mooted restrictions on salary sacrifice - which universities make a lot of use of to pay for pensions - this is not shaping up to be a great budget for a sector already mired in cutbacks and redundancies.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Alongside mooted restrictions on salary sacrifice - which universities make a lot of use of to pay for pensions - this is not shaping up to be a great budget for a sector already mired in cutbacks and redundancies.
Something peculiar about the way my brain instinctively went “ah, you’re ruled out for being a Scorpio” and ignored the many other impediments.
Sir Rowley Birkin QC is looking for love, ladies. What a catch.
West Country OAP aristocrat on hunt for bride 20 years younger
She must be taller than 5ft 6ins, have a shotgun licence, and not be a Scorpio
www.plymouthherald.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Something peculiar about the way my brain instinctively went “ah, you’re ruled out for being a Scorpio” and ignored the many other impediments.
Reposted by James Chalmers
One more week for this.
Call for papers for a workshop on Economic Aspects of the Constitution: www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_...
November 21, 2025 at 6:49 PM
One more week for this.
Reposted by James Chalmers
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
November 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
Decided to test Grok’s sycophancy for Elon Musk by asking it to identify some world records he could break if he put the effort in and honestly this one seems kind of insulting.
November 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Decided to test Grok’s sycophancy for Elon Musk by asking it to identify some world records he could break if he put the effort in and honestly this one seems kind of insulting.
Lockdown "might not have been necessary at all" seems like a bold claim but, perhaps more importantly, likely helps ensure that if we *do* need it for a future pandemic we won't get it, because the inquiry said we didn't need it. (The qualifiers "might" and "if we acted earlier" will be forgotten.)
November 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Lockdown "might not have been necessary at all" seems like a bold claim but, perhaps more importantly, likely helps ensure that if we *do* need it for a future pandemic we won't get it, because the inquiry said we didn't need it. (The qualifiers "might" and "if we acted earlier" will be forgotten.)
Reposted by James Chalmers
Yeah, I think Ulez is a useful analogy for so many things, which is that ultimately 'is that true?' does really matter - people who could vote in the London mayoral election who sincerely believed their 2019 era car was gonna get hit by Ulez did not still believe that after Ulez had been introduced.
A perpetual quirk of voter psychology (and one I'm not really sure you can 'solve') is people automatically assuming that all punitive measures will apply to them. See ULEZ in London for another example
It does make pushing through policies harder than it probably should be
It does make pushing through policies harder than it probably should be
A thing that I remember vividly from GE2015 is when you'd knock on the door of a never-gonna-be-hit-by-the-mansion-tax house that was never going to be hit by a mansion tax who really thought their house's inflated price meant it might be close to it. Turns out that has spread to officials!
November 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Yeah, I think Ulez is a useful analogy for so many things, which is that ultimately 'is that true?' does really matter - people who could vote in the London mayoral election who sincerely believed their 2019 era car was gonna get hit by Ulez did not still believe that after Ulez had been introduced.
Absolutely fantastic how a significant chunk of our political discourse is now “all we need to do to fix the state is tax the rich” coupled with “but for example, people who own houses worth £1.5m aren’t rich, don’t tax them”.
I sometimes feel like I am going mad.
Owning a £1.5m home is not normal in London or the South East of England.
Owning a £1.5m home is not normal in London or the South East of England.
November 20, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Absolutely fantastic how a significant chunk of our political discourse is now “all we need to do to fix the state is tax the rich” coupled with “but for example, people who own houses worth £1.5m aren’t rich, don’t tax them”.
Reposted by James Chalmers
A whole bunch of things here that I hadn't really thought about. Apparently no one in government has, either.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
What Are We Going to Do With 300 Billion Pennies?
The government has no plan.
www.theatlantic.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:29 PM
A whole bunch of things here that I hadn't really thought about. Apparently no one in government has, either.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Absolutely fascinating video: a whole series of lightly buzzed interviewees struggling to sound fully articulate in replying to the interviewer while also entirely confident in their ability to drive safely. (Would be fascinated to know what became of the law student.)
The reaction to these sensible measures was extreme..
She received death threats & was told by a BBC journalist 'You're only a woman, you don't drive, what do you know about it?'
This report from the time shows some of the attitudes to the change!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_tq...
She received death threats & was told by a BBC journalist 'You're only a woman, you don't drive, what do you know about it?'
This report from the time shows some of the attitudes to the change!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_tq...
Legal Drunk Drivers from the 1960s
YouTube video by Robert Exley
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Absolutely fascinating video: a whole series of lightly buzzed interviewees struggling to sound fully articulate in replying to the interviewer while also entirely confident in their ability to drive safely. (Would be fascinated to know what became of the law student.)
Reposted by James Chalmers
I don’t share Janan’s politics, his pessimism or the idea that people shouldn’t be disappointed because it was always going to be this bad… but but but… this is a pretty sharp ‘told you so’ that’s well worth reading.
www.ft.com/content/68ee...
www.ft.com/content/68ee...
The Labour government will deteriorate from here
Starmer and Reeves are unfit and their likeliest usurpers are worse
www.ft.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I don’t share Janan’s politics, his pessimism or the idea that people shouldn’t be disappointed because it was always going to be this bad… but but but… this is a pretty sharp ‘told you so’ that’s well worth reading.
www.ft.com/content/68ee...
www.ft.com/content/68ee...
Reposted by James Chalmers
Labour’s “we have to do it, or racism will get worse” argument is striking. Any other public policy failures British ethnic minorities should be on the hook for? Can we be blamed en bloc for Rachel Reeves’ budget next week too? www.ft.com/content/37b0...
Defence of Labour asylum policy reveals backsliding on racism
Home secretary’s framing of failures is partly low politics, but also a result of ministers’ poor approach to race relations
www.ft.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Labour’s “we have to do it, or racism will get worse” argument is striking. Any other public policy failures British ethnic minorities should be on the hook for? Can we be blamed en bloc for Rachel Reeves’ budget next week too? www.ft.com/content/37b0...
Reposted by James Chalmers
a preview :)
November 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
a preview :)
Reposted by James Chalmers
I'm reading through the white paper or whatever it is. RESTORING ORDER AND CONTROL: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy www.gov.uk/government/p...
Asylum and returns policy statement
This policy statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns policy.
www.gov.uk
November 17, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I'm reading through the white paper or whatever it is. RESTORING ORDER AND CONTROL: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy www.gov.uk/government/p...
As we saw with DOGE, there seem to be several politicians who think briefing "we will do this Trump-coded thing, like Trump" is politically savvy, and maybe I spend too much time on Bluesky but no other tendency in today's politics makes me feel like I inhabit a parallel universe as much as this.
Somebody is briefing the Times that the Home Secretary finds inspiration in Kristi Noem's leading the Trump mass deportation effort - which has gone much too far for Americans
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Shabana Mahmood threatens Trump-style visa ban on three countries
Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will face Trump-style sanctions if they do not start taking back more illegal migrants and criminals
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:01 PM
As we saw with DOGE, there seem to be several politicians who think briefing "we will do this Trump-coded thing, like Trump" is politically savvy, and maybe I spend too much time on Bluesky but no other tendency in today's politics makes me feel like I inhabit a parallel universe as much as this.
Reposted by James Chalmers
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ and dividing country, home secretary says
Shabana Mahmood to unveil new proposals modelled on Denmark’s controversial system
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by James Chalmers
"But let’s not allow the ruling to feed into the illusion that we are now living in a world in which women have the upper hand." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column on the Supreme Court judgement on the application of Scotland's rape shield laws. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/hol...
Supreme Court ruling reignites debate over Scotland’s rape shield laws
The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on Scotland’s rape shield laws has sparked fears of appeals and delays, raising difficult questions about…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:46 AM
"But let’s not allow the ruling to feed into the illusion that we are now living in a world in which women have the upper hand." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column on the Supreme Court judgement on the application of Scotland's rape shield laws. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/hol...
Refugees will continue to exist and the right will continue to be able to attack their presence. I am baffled by the apparent belief that voters will change course because you can point to a figure in a statistical bulletin about something distinct from what voters were complaining about anyway.
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Refugees will continue to exist and the right will continue to be able to attack their presence. I am baffled by the apparent belief that voters will change course because you can point to a figure in a statistical bulletin about something distinct from what voters were complaining about anyway.
Really not convinced the BBC should be providing blanket anonymity to campaigners who want to stop a school being built because of “concerns about being publicly critical of East Dunbartonshire Council”. It’s a local authority, not the Mafia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 15, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Really not convinced the BBC should be providing blanket anonymity to campaigners who want to stop a school being built because of “concerns about being publicly critical of East Dunbartonshire Council”. It’s a local authority, not the Mafia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...