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
Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
November 29, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
There are a lot of "have the BBC never heard of the Streisand Effect?" comments on this but the Streisand Effect has nothing to do with this. This isn't about the BBC trying to stop you knowing about this line, but about it trying to navigate away from a ridiculous lawsuit. It's still depressing!
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
BBC presenters and journalists have been told they cannot quote a line removed from its prestigious annual lecture, in which a Dutch writer accused Donald Trump of being “the most openly corrupt president in American history”.
Rutger Bregman accused the BBC of cowardice after the decision to remove the line from the first of his Reith Lectures, which he was invited to give by the corporation. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:14 PM
There are a lot of "have the BBC never heard of the Streisand Effect?" comments on this but the Streisand Effect has nothing to do with this. This isn't about the BBC trying to stop you knowing about this line, but about it trying to navigate away from a ridiculous lawsuit. It's still depressing!
I realise there are questions about internal processes etc that are worth asking, but on the face of it this looks like the most straightforward “how did this happen?” inquiry you could possibly imagine. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
November 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I realise there are questions about internal processes etc that are worth asking, but on the face of it this looks like the most straightforward “how did this happen?” inquiry you could possibly imagine. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
I wouldn’t say my views on tuition fees have *changed* but they have definitely moved from “I hate this proposal but I find some of the arguments for it difficult to rebut” to “this is an outrageous way of permitting age-differentiated taxation that we’d never accept in the other direction”.
I'm constantly shocked (but not surprised) by how little we discuss the additional financial burden placed on young people by the Clegg-Cameron student loan regime.
@rmcunliffe.bsky.social is one of the few journalists who brings it up continuously - once again in the wake of the budget 👇
@rmcunliffe.bsky.social is one of the few journalists who brings it up continuously - once again in the wake of the budget 👇
Rachel Reeves hits young graduates with a double stealth tax
The Chancellor plans to raise as much money from freezing loan repayment thresholds as from the mansion tax
www.newstatesman.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I wouldn’t say my views on tuition fees have *changed* but they have definitely moved from “I hate this proposal but I find some of the arguments for it difficult to rebut” to “this is an outrageous way of permitting age-differentiated taxation that we’d never accept in the other direction”.
Reposted by James Chalmers
Just think, if Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill had become law, its provision for the “right” to trial by jury, where legislation provides for trial by jury, would make no difference to anything
November 26, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Just think, if Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill had become law, its provision for the “right” to trial by jury, where legislation provides for trial by jury, would make no difference to anything
So it turns out these owners were just getting ahead of the game.
November 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
So it turns out these owners were just getting ahead of the game.
We apologise for the budget that has been gradually leaked over the past week being leaked again. Those responsible have been sacked.
November 26, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We apologise for the budget that has been gradually leaked over the past week being leaked again. Those responsible have been sacked.
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...