John Cotter
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drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter
@drjohncotter.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.5K following 1.4K posts

Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University, England. Research in EU constitutional law, especially defence of democracy, and impeachment. Irishman living in Cheshire. Views are my own.

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John Lambert Cotter was an American archaeologist whose career spanned more than sixty years and included archaeological work with the Works Progress Administration, numerous posts with the National Park Service, and contributions to the development of historical archaeology in the United States. .. more

Political science 29%
Materials science 18%
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drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · Sep 8
Last mention of my most recent article on how - as a last resort - EU law can be (re-)-interpreted to protect the democratic legitimacy of its legislature in the face of Member State autocratisation.
drjohncotter.bsky.social John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · Aug 28
My latest article ‘Democracy Manifest? Ensuring the EU Legislature’s Democratic Legitimacy
in the Face of National-Level Autocratisation’ has just been published online and open access in European Papers: www.europeanpapers.eu/en/system/fi...
www.europeanpapers.eu

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
JD Vance probably convincing himself that the booing was oppressive woke Europe trying to cancel him and that only brutalisation of the decadent booing masses by state-sponsored thugs can restore free speech.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
I hope Piers Morgan doesn’t find out about Trump’s racism and the tooth fairy on the same day.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
And if things are really as grim for Starmer as is being suggested, what does he have to lose anyway?

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
I could be entirely wrong, but I think a lot of the assumed obstacles to the UK joining the EU or at least some form of closer economic integration are becoming exaggerated. There needs to be some impetus shown for it.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
The situation on the EU side has also changed btw, and the case for the UK joining is now much more attractive (if some kind of maturity and stability can be signalled again from the UK).

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
Sure, some people would jump up and down in a silly rage about it. However, I think a silent majority of people, even a lot of people who voted leave, would quietly breathe a sigh of relief that finally someone was acting like a grown-up and had a clear vision and plan.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
Starmer gets unfair criticism, but one criticism I think is fair is that he seems unable to spot and utilise opportunities: the US going rogue is a chance to say that 2016 was in another age and there is now a clear case for saying the decision to turn away from Europe was wrong and must be reversed

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 2d
It goes back to a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Why discuss slow-burning or even immediate threats to democracy and the rule of law when you can report “he said, she said” or “how is this polling?” 2/2

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 2d
It’s obvious that most political correspondents are trained in - or have as their bread and butter - day-to-day political or interpersonal machinations. A “week is a long time in politics” view of the world. They’re not so good on the longer term constitutional structures that underpin it all. /1

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 4d
I’m sorry, but if large corporate chains can’t support themselves without state intervention, maybe they shouldn’t have so many pubs…
pippacrerar.bsky.social Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 4d
NEW: Reform UK says it would re-impose the two-child benefit cap - scrapped by Labour - for most families to fund £3bn support package for pubs.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 4d
Like what’s the point in targeting obvious Traitors early on? It’s just a game of reducing numbers and saving yourself. Better the devil you know.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 4d
The utter beautiful chaos of the Irish Traitors. The first series in which contestants finally say the quiet or unspoken things out loud.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Steven French, John L. Cotter , and 1 more

pippacrerar.bsky.social
Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 4d
NEW: Reform UK says it would re-impose the two-child benefit cap - scrapped by Labour - for most families to fund £3bn support package for pubs.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
I think the safest route is an omnibus bill depriving all peers of their titles. That would head off all future problems of this sort.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 6d
Coming soon, The Resignation Letters of Peter Mandelson, Vol. I.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 6d
Mandelson must have a drawer of resignation letter precedents.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
French absolutist monarchy: “let them eat cake.”

British constitutional monarchy: “let us sell them cake at a significant mark up.”

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
“I think about the Roman Empire at least several times a day.”

“Oh, I should introduce you to my friend Mary Beard.”

“An expert on the Roman Empire? No way, what a nerd.”

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
Matt Goodwin now wears a leather jacket and shades, and smokes, and is not a nerd. So no nerd stuff for him like reading, or conversing beyond a few monosyllables, or even thinking. He’s his own man, but also a man of the people. And you’re a nerd for reading this.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 8d
The search for proper Brexit must continue until morale improves.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 8d
The Express: “Please go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest, and if he will give us food and shelter for this night he can join us in our quest for a proper Brexit.”
French castle scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. King Arthur and his knights looking up at the castle.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 8d
Something to do with making Britain like one of those nostalgic English villages that never existed you see in paintings on jigsaw boxes.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 8d
What’s that, a free port in a tree?

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 8d
The Express, alone on a raft, raving mad, floating down the Amazon, searching for the Eldorado of a “proper Brexit”.
Klaus Kinski in the final scene of Herzog’s film, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
I’ve only ever passed through, so cannot make a fair comparison. All I know is one can’t call Limerick Junction Godforsaken, because that would imply God’s presence there at an earlier point in time.

Reposted by John L. Cotter

katefarrantshaw.bsky.social
Dr Kate Farrant Shaw @katefarrantshaw.bsky.social · 9d
EU Rule of Law - New and interesting book out very soon exploring one of the EU's most pressing challenges: the erosion of the rule of law.
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dealing-w...

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
As I’ve said before, if it was Aristotle who said that nature abhors a vacuum, it is definitive evidence that he was never in Limerick Junction.
kevinkosullivan.bsky.social Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 9d
Good evening from the coldest place on Earth.
Sign which reads, Gabhal Luimnigh - Limerick Junction Photograph of a railway platform at night

Reposted by John L. Cotter

kevinkosullivan.bsky.social
Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 9d
Good evening from the coldest place on Earth.
Sign which reads, Gabhal Luimnigh - Limerick Junction Photograph of a railway platform at night

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
If ever you find yourself in a roomful of chalices and one of them is the holy grail, but you don’t know which one, don’t choose one covered in jewels. Jesus was a poor, humble son of a carpenter, so it’s unlikely he was drinking out of super expensive goblets.
copaceticbunsz.com e.g. Bunny Lastname @copaceticbunsz.com · Feb 2
If you’re over 30, quote this with some life advice 🤌🏼

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 11d
Does a Matt Goodwin imply the existence of a Matt Badlose?

It’s been a long day and it’s all I’ve got, you animals.