Stop congratulating him. This is a production shot from when he was an extra on a Morse episode.

Elite overproduction latest.

“In a few months, Britain will go to the polls to make a once-in-a-generation choice. I speak, of course, of the University of Oxford’s chancellorship election …” Excellent by Yuan Yi Zhu 👇

If this doesn't kill the so-called Special Relationship nothing will.

The Washington National Opera is doing Turandot with an anti-Chinese stereotype staging (so it basically now looks like the Red Detachment of Women?)

Was intererested to see that the Guardian's review of 'Imperial Island' was quite similar to Sandbrook's – neither a hatchet job, by any means, but it appears that being criticised by the G doesn't have the same cachet.
theguardian.com/books/2023/aug…

Hivemind: who was the judge (I seem to recall it was Lord Rodger but maybe I'm wrong) who said something like “courts provide a service to litigants and if they want to litigate it's not our job to tell them off”?

A major update on SJV

Another punt for my Commons Library Insight blog on whether or not the Church of Scotland - whose General Assembly kicks off tomorrow - is established: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/is-the-church-…

The Washington National Opera is doing Turandot with an anti-Chinese stereotype staging (so it basically now looks like the Red Detachment of Women?)

'Jenkins [early Australian legislative clerk] was ‘in fact a lazy, dictatorial, unctuous opportunist’. Reportedly, he was not above interjecting in debates and delaying the ringing of parliamentary bells until he had finished his drink.'

“ - I am a KC - ”

Just when you think he can’t get anymore ludicrous, he does. Surely he is going to explode eventually?

London nightlife latest: went to get a quesadilla on my way home at 8.50pm, on a Thursday, got it and sat down, was the only customer left, then the guy asked if it was okay for him to close the shutters so I'm now eating alone, without music, in a closed place, at 9.07pm

If you are a barrister who through no particular prowess of your own has managed to secure a significant public platform, my top tip is to try your best not to make allegations against the judiciary when they do things that you don’t like.

Jolyon seething because someone corrected him.

I’m into Chinese cooking and was waiting for someone to complain about cultural appropriation or whatever. But my Chinese students have been like “Of course you like Chinese cooking, our food is the best.”

I still can't believe one of the old time poasters on here is now president of Finland.

In response to a question, I ran the numbers on colleges awarding undergraduate history degrees (in the U.S.), and there has been a definite decline in the most recent five years with data.

In 1960, Hugh Trevor-Roper arranged for Harold Macmillan to run for the chancellorship of Oxford in order to save it from the “solemn, pompous, dreary, respectable Times-reading world which hates elections (indeed, hates life)”. Now, the Times readers won.
unherd.com/newsroom/why-o…