Can reforms save the European Convention on Human Rights? Right-wing parties in Britain see it as a barrier to deporting illegal migrants and plan to pull out

Will Britain still be in the ECHR in five years' time? In this week’s edition of @economist.com I explore the case against the convention, before outlining the principled and practical reasons we should support it.

www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Is a deep freeze coming? The Atlantic ocean current that keeps northern Europe warm is in danger of collapsing. Compared with threats of war and disease, it is given relativel...

"Our lives as we know them depend on a great current continuing its journey through the deep ocean", writes @ellenhalliday.bsky.social in this piece on one of the Earth's climate tipping points, known as the "AMOC".

An important, disconcerting read:

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/enviro...

Dozens killed as Israeli special forces raid Lebanese village in search of 40-year-old remains Overnight, one Israeli operation saw at least 41 people killed and 40 injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Pretty serious allegation here. "Witnesses told the BBC that the Israeli soldiers had arrived disguised in Lebanese military fatigues and used ambulances with signs of Hezbollah's Islamic Health Organization."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Remaining, remoaning On an autumn day in 2019, hundreds of thousands of people marched through central London. Wearing bright blue-and-yellow berets, singing Brussels-themed

Why did the People's Vote campaign fail? In this week's Times Literary Supplement I review a new book which attempts to answer that question - and argue that pro-Europeans will get their way in the end.

www.the-tls.com/politics-by-...

The European Onion is a joke whose time has come A new model of European integration, without the tears

Purists still prefer it when Europe moves forward as one. Multiple layers add complexity to a set-up that is already hard for many to grasp. But a new approach could help

The End of Books Coverage at the Washington Post Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section.

"A newspaper is—or ought to be—the opposite of an algorithm".

I love this line - and this piece: www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...

A correction for the ages (from The Guardian's review of 'Melania'):

White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest Guardian analysis shows images are the same, with Nekima Levy Armstrong looking composed in original but sobbing after alteration

The White House posted a digitally altered image of a woman who was arrested on Thursday in a case touted by attorney general Pam Bondi, to make it seem as if she was dramatically crying, a Guardian analysis of the image has found.

Wow, these maps... actually missed them when first published in August. The EU's challenge is absolutely stark here - global competitiveness. Which can't and won't come from domestic protectionism.

The FIFA Peace Prize used to mean something

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s profoundly strange personality — and profoundly original work Anthony Gottlieb’s rich portrait captures both the spiritual and systematic sides of the Austrian philosopher

I reviewed Anthony Gottlieb’s new biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the 20th-century philosopher, for the Financial Times. Over a brisk 165 pages Gottlieb captures both the logician and the mystic:

www.ft.com/content/b5a1...

One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons

Are you a community specialist and interested in the world of open source investigations? Come work with us! We're searching for a Community Operations & Project Manager. Apply by January 11th. www.bellingcat.com/bellingcat-j...

Such an important point about how political discourse works today. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Please do this!

Britain’s plan to curb jury trials is a sharp break with tradition It is a desperate response to a disastrous backlog in the courts

William Blackstone called juries “the principal bulwark of our liberties”. Now David Lammy, the justice secretary, wants to curtail them. What should we make of his plans?

I explore the past, present and future of jury trials in this week’s Economist:

www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Britain’s government seems immobilised by its peril. Compounding earlier mistakes, its budget has failed utterly to lessen the country’s economic and political vulnerability econ.st/4rnW7px

Britain’s budget prioritised Labour's political survival And ducked the painful choices needed to revive the economy

Labour’s budget is unlikely to be inflationary. That, and the absence for the most part of actively harmful policies, meant that the market reaction was muted. But avoiding a bond-market tantrum is hardly enough

Ah yes I saw that one. Thanks for responses. Nice blog post on 12 Angry Men

Fair enough. Am genuinely interested in empirical findings on effectiveness or otherwise of juries. I'm undecided on it myself (tend to think Leveson's proposals were sensible -- baulked a bit at latest ones)

Out of interest, what studies are you thinking of, Hugo?

I've written for this week's edition on Labour's plans to tighten how courts interpret the ECHR.

Leaving the convention would be mad. Renegotiating it would take forever. Doing nothing would be complacent. Tightening how it is applied might be best way through.

This is now outside the paywall, please do read and share

How the world's richest man is boosting the British right How the world's richest man is boosting the British right

"Platforms built as public town squares for self-expression and connecting with others are now more like private property, where the loudest voices belong to those with power, or those with views that align with the views of people who control the algorithm."

news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

I've been getting back into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series after many years, and the most relatable part is how everyday objects like doors and elevators have been imbued with artificial intelligence and it just makes them obnoxious and frustrating to use and everyone hates it.

Disney+ Cancellations Jump After Kimmel Suspension Roughly three million Americans canceled the streaming service in the month that it temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show. About 4.1 million people canceled Disney-owned Hulu.

When Disney temporarily suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last month, about three million Disney+ customers and more than four million Hulu customers canceled their subscriptions, according to new data.

I was looking at Reform's policy again the other day. They're proposing a £60k salary for people on ILR keeping their visa. Which means pretty much every nurse on ILR would be a risk. It's insane.

I enjoyed David Edmonds' new book on Peter Singer and his influential thought experiment, the "shallow pond". Here's my review, for the TLS

www.the-tls.com/philosophy/c...

In her lunch with the FT the OnlyFans CEO says her company pays more tax than the entire British fishing industry. Quite a stat.

Can Donald Trump muzzle America’s press? He has bullied some outlets, but intimidating them all is a daunting task

The same changes in America’s media industry that have given Donald Trump more influence are also making it harder for him—or anyone—to control it