• The Scottish government announced that tackling violence against women and girls will be at the heart of its policy programme. Link.

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• The Prime Minister blocked hundreds more criminals from eligibility for the early release scheme. Link.

• Channel 4 exposed attempts by Reform UK to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations. Link.

• Four Palestine Action activists are set to appeal their ‘terrorism-connected’ convictions. Link.

• Funding has been boosted to speed up the building of new prisons. Link.

• UK app developers are set to receive compensation for alleged revenue losses caused by commissions charged on Google Play Store transactions. Link.

• A deadline for police forces in England and Wales to have specialist rape and sexual offence teams has been brought forward. Link.

• Legal professionals commemorated the anniversary of Bushel’s case, raising concerns about the prosecution of Rajiv Menon KC. Link.

• Asbestos and other dust-related diseases victims will get higher compensation payouts under a new government scheme. Link.

• The law firm, Taylor Rose, was called out for failing to pay minimum wage. Link.

Part of that is because the consequences are not immediately evident. If funding is cut to the police, then it quickly becomes obvious that resources are being stretched out on the streets. However, when criminal legal aid is cut it might just mean that a trial is delayed by several months and a defendant’s representation is not as good as it should be. Those are concerning outcomes, but they are not as practically noticeable to the average person on the street.

It is also difficult to get the public to understand that not all lawyers are fat cats smoking cigars in gigantic skyscrapers. In fact, many are working long hours travelling between police stations and Crown Courts, working unsociable hours, and drinking bad coffee from a machine.

All of this is to say that the legal aid system, and criminal legal aid in particular, needs serious investment. However, almost as important, is the way in which funds are distributed.

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September also means MPs and representatives across the UK are returning to their jobs, hopefully feeling refreshed and full of new ideas.

Andy Burnham addressed Parliament for the first time as Prime Minister and spoke about the importance of devolution. That will be music to the ears of Members of the Scottish Parliament North of the border where First Minister, John Swinney, is also looking to enact bold new policies.

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Significantly, however, this was the first such flight under new Prime Minister, Andrew Burnham, suggesting that his purported change in attitude to the conflict is little more than a facade.

Just as it is business as usual in the Middle East, so it is at home where Palestine Action remains a proscribed terrorist group and the British state continues to push for the prosecution of pensioners whose only crime is opposing the genocide and supporting Palestine Action’s campaign of civil disobedience.

The good news is that, despite a lack of change in Downing Street, more and more people are waking up to what is an authoritarian clampdown on criticism of Israel.

Last week a jury took only two hours to deliberate before it refused to convict the peace activist Tony Greenstein of inviting support for Hamas.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, his crime involved three social media posts and a blog that called out the genocide. The alleged support for Hamas came from posts which called for a “Gaza ghetto uprising” but the argument falls apart when you consider that Greenstein’s other writings directly call out Hamas for the misery they have caused in the enclave.

It is this sort of context that is often missing or deliberately omitted when it comes to the criminal justice system.

In a Palestine Action trial that took place earlier on this year the defence barrister Rajiv Menon KC attempted to provide important context around jury equity in his closing speech. Despite his honesty and appeal to a legal principle that has been established for hundreds of years, this respected lawyer is now facing contempt proceedings.

It was partially out of concern for his own lawyers professional reputation and ability to defend their client to the best of their ability that Greenstein decided to give his own closing speech. For half an hour he dismantled the charges laid against him and exposed the proceedings as part of an ongoing effort to silence opposition to genocide. In a memorable passage, he told the jury:

“Your [verdict] will not stay in this room. If these three posts are terrorism, then the word has a new meaning for everyone in this country. Every student who shares an article. Every pensioner who retweets the wrong opinion. Every writer, every blogger, every one of your neighbours with a social media account and a view about a war.

“Can it really be the law of England that any of them – that any of you – will be condemned to 14 years of prison for a tweet? You have the power, today, to answer that question. Whatever your answer is, it will be remembered long after this trial is forgotten.”

The words were dismissed by Judge Sarah Plaschkes as a “rambling speech delivered by an old man”, she warned Greenstein about treating the trial as a “political forum” and said the jury was “not concerned with events in the Middle East”. Nevertheless, her best efforts to eliminate nuance in the proceedings fell on deaf ears and Greenstein walked away a free man.

That result sends a clear message to the British establishment: the public are not ignorant of the context surrounding these alleged crimes and after three years of genocide and attacks on the civilian population of Gaza, efforts by the legal system to blatantly ignore these war crimes appear disingenuous and betray a serious moral failure.

This week on the podcast, we examine the circumstances when a group litigation order can be varied.

Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2026-uksc-24/

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• The International Bar Association condemned fresh U.S. sanctions on International Criminal Court personnel. Link.

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• The Prime Minister is considering changing insolvency laws in order to make it easier to bring utilities under public control. Link.

• A High Court judge imposed an exceptional order for legal costs in Prince Harry’s privacy case. Link.

• The government expects Meta to roll out new child safety measures in the UK following an $18 billion settlement in the U.S. Link.

• The U.S. issued sanctions against Palestine Action. Link.

• An online petition called for GPS monitoring of domestic abuse suspects. Link.

• It was announced that serious sexual and violent offenders could be confined to areas just a few miles wide after leaving prison. Link.

• Lawyers were praised for securing the release of a prisoner who had been serving the unlawfully imposed sentence. Link.

• Small law firms continue to to fight rule changes which will force them to separate management and compliance roles. Link.

• Thomson Reuters launched its first proprietary LLM. Link.

These are not the typical sort of deserts that you might find after a series of heatwaves but are instead legal aid deserts where people without sufficient funds are unable to get help with essential legal problems from immigration through to housing.

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With more historic offences coming to light and sexual offenders receiving heavier sentences, this is one of the largest categories of inmates. As the new Prime Minister looks to try and get a handle on the growing prison population, what were once radical solutions are now being looked at more seriously.

Recent reporting in The Guardian suggested that male sexual offenders in England and Wales could be released early if they agree to a course of sex drive-suppressing drugs. The hope is that this will ease the pressure on prisons and reduce rates of re-offending.

It is quite natural to balk at any solution that sounds like chemical castration, but this is not quite that extreme. Prisoners are instead given drugs that have been proven to limit invasive sexual thoughts, reduce libido and restrict the production of testosterone. While this might not work for serial offenders who take sadistic pleasure in their acts, these drugs can be life-changing and a mercy for offenders who suffer from persistent and unwanted sexual thoughts.

The real test will come when the pilot is expanded to 20 prisons this autumn. Care must be taken when deciding which prisoners are eligible to volunteer for the scheme and then, once they are released from prison, their behaviour must be monitored and probation officers have to ensure that they continue to take the drugs. Recidivism is less common amongst those convicted of sexual offences, but just one high-profile offence by an offender released under the scheme is all it will take to throw doubts on the whole enterprise.

Frankly, it is a lot of risk and hard work for something that might blow up in the government’s face and remains ethically dubious, even as a voluntary scheme. There are still a lot of questions about the long-term effects of these drugs. For example, it is known that testosterone suppression can lead to cardiovascular issues later on in life. Furthermore, while this scheme is voluntary, there are legitimate concerns that prisoners might feel pressured into signing up if a failure to do so impacts parole decisions down the line.

The government should be credited for trying to take practical steps towards reducing the prison population and yet this plan feels ripe for criticism from both the left and the right. Support groups have been found to reduce reoffending, help reintegration into the community, and don’t require chemical intervention, but this solution is not as popular because it is seen as being soft on a type of crime that is rightly viewed as abhorrent and almost unforgivable in the minds of voters.

If the pressure on prisons can be greatly reduced as a result of this scheme then it could well be worth it, but the government is certainly playing with fire.

This week on the podcast, we look at a shipping case as the Supreme Court decides what remedies are available to buyers when a ship is not delivered on time.

Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2026-uksc-23/

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• The SRA warned about AI hallucinations after receiving 42 reports of misuse over the past year. Link.

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• A controversial Home Office leaflet warned asylum seekers that rape and harassment is illegal in the UK. Link.

• A London law firm was called out by a judge over regulatory and procedural failings. Link.

• There were calls for urgent changes to the law as the UK’s largest water reuse system cannot be switched on. Link.

• The Prime Minister announced a crackdown on criminal gangs profiting from illegal waste. Link.

• A law firm in Glasgow fell into administration putting jobs at risk. Link.

• A member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s executive committee has resigned as controversy deepened. Link.

• The legaltech firm Harvey launched a new AI platform. Link.

• A law firm owner who cost the profession £450,000 through her dishonesty has been struck off the roll. Link.

As well as being legally important to the rule of law, this certainty also serves a vital psychological purpose as prisoners have a sense of if and when they will be released.

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This is no longer new or unprecedented territory. Each summer is getting warmer and particularly harsh spikes in temperature happening more than once or twice a year. A country that could once put up with the occasional heatwave now finds that it does not have the necessary infrastructure to deal with the consequences of the climate crisis. Rail tracks are melting, wildfires are causing untold damaged to the countryside and there is more pressure on health services as people struggle with the heat.

Legally and politically the UK should have adapted years ago and the failure of previous administrations means that time is now running out.

Some of the changes required are relatively simple. Many wildfires are caused by human carelessness as people fail to properly extinguish disposable barbecues. In the past warning labels and education about the risk posed might have been sufficient, but we are now at a point where a ban might be necessary. Where I live in West Yorkshire, within hours of people receiving the emergency notification you could hear fireworks going off into the distance. As much as we want to trust people to act sensibly, there are times when the law has to step in.

Of course, it will take much more than banning the private sale of fireworks or disposable barbecues to solve the climate challenge. Wildfires are going to happen one way or another and the government needs to properly equip and support the emergency services so that they can deal with them as best they can.

Beyond this, more radical solutions might also be needed. Before he entered Downing Street, Andy Burnham floated the idea of nationalising Thames Water following a series of high profile failures. The reality is that as shareholders continue to profit, it has been more than 30 years since the UK built a new reservoir. Hose pipe bans are sometimes necessary but extended periods of drought alongside low water reserves affect agriculture and the ability of the UK to produce much of its own food.

How serious the new Prime Minister is about the climate emergency remains to be seen. His response to the most recent heatwave has been more positive than previous administrations, and we should be thankful that we don't have a climate change denier in Downing Street. However, his decision to exploit more of North Sea oil suggests that there is a cost-benefit consideration when it comes to this issue and that Andy Burnham might yet need more convincing when it comes to climate change.

This week on the podcast, we consider the responsibility of local authorities when it comes to homelessness and the circumstances when their duty is considered to be discharged.

Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2026-uksc-22/

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• The US was criticised for peddling MAGA ideology in the UK via its embassy. Link.

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• The LawCare charity was affected by a data breach. Link.

• As A-Level results were published, a study found twice as many female students pursued law. Link.

• The Supreme Court handed down a significant judgment relating to the rights of part-time workers. Link.

• Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK was criticised over his legal threats against journalists. Link.

• Concerns were raised that PC Andrew Harper’s killers might be released from prison under the Early Release Scheme. Link.

• An Irish burger chain won a trademark case against McDonald’s. Link.

• A review found that victims of road crime feel forgotten by the system. Link.

Politicians and other state actors should act on behalf of the people that they serve and nobody else. This is the reason why stories like a £5 million gift to Nigel Farage, the failure by Labour Together to declare political donations, and spending by the Israel lobby in the UK attract s…

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• The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that opposition to Zionism was a protected belief under the Equality Act. Link.

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• The Prime Minister blocked the release of rapists and child sex offenders under the Early Release Scheme. Link.

• Guidance relating to single-sex spaces came into force. Link.

• The Supreme Court launched a search for a new Justice. Link.

• Apple began a legal challenge opposing the UK’s demand to access encrypted data. Link.

• The government won a legal challenge allowing Gatwick’s second runway to be brought into full use. Link.

• The Chief Executive of the Manchester Law Society retired after 38 years. Link.

• Knife crime homicides fell to a 30-year low. Link.

• The Charity Commission opened an inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements. Link.

• The Law Society of Northern Ireland became mired in controversy after the Chief Executive provided a reference for his cousin who had been convicted for indecent assault. Link.

The latest figures show how proposals to alter the sentencing power of magistrates actually encouraged longer sentences despite hopes that the move would reduce overcrowding in prisons.

In Octob…

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The dismissal for gross misconduct arose from comments that he made about the influence of Zionism, Israel, and Jewish student organisations. Ironically there was then a successful campaign targeted at the university demanding that action be taken.

Miller refused to take the decision lying down and commenced a legal claim before the Employment Tribunal arguing that he had been unfairly dismissed. The case turned on a key question which was whether anti-Zionism should be considered a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010.

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If police reports are to be believed then this large scale protest which involved more than 100 arrests also allegedly included assaults on officers. Speaking about the event, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said:

“While these individuals were deliberately getting themselves arrested, officers across London have dealt with almost 6,000 calls — including to high-risk missing children, serious sexual assaults and violent attacks.”

The reality of the protest was quite different. No one would dispute the number of officers involved or the number of arrests, but eyewitness reports tell a different tale about what happened on the ground.

The majority of those arrested were retirees who are well respected members of their community, one was even a former adviser to King Charles. There were also suggestions that it was the police officers who were behaving aggressively in the face of this elderly cohort.

Either way it doesn't say much about the police deployment of resources when they are choosing to prioritise old people holding up homemade signs over sexual assaults and vulnerable children.

In fact, the two sides would probably agree that this is a waste of time and resources even if they approach the question from different perspectives.

For the protesters, the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is an abuse of political power and anti-terrorism legislation. It is the first time that a civil disobedience group has been classified as such and the move has had a chilling effect on the right to protest in the UK. Few would argue with the decision to proscribe violent neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organisations but the folly of proscribing Palestine Action is clear for all to see as the total number of arrests now runs into the thousands.

It is an early indictment on the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, that he has not reversed this decision and so instead this ridiculous dance between police and protesters must continue.

Nevertheless, the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, will have its own chance to intervene after it hears an appeal from the groups founder Huda Ammori. In particular, it will consider the impact on Article 10 (the freedom of expression) and Article 11 (the freedom of assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Speaking about the case, Ammori said:

“The proscription of Palestine Action has become a vehicle for a far broader crackdown on expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“This unprecedented attack on free speech and the right to protest in this country is already having a chilling effect at a time when speaking out about Israel’s crimes could not be more urgent.”

So what are the chances of an appeal succeeding?

Based on what we know about the law and how it has been interpreted by the Justices, the answer would appear to be very low.

Articles 10 and 11 are not absolute rights and this means that the state has a lot of leeway when it comes to upholding them. Furthermore, this leeway has been greatly expanded in recent years particularly under the current President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed. Time and time again the top court has deferred to the decision-making of ministers instead of scrutinising those decisions to see how they hold up under the law.

If the appeal to the Supreme Court fails then there would potentially be an opportunity to appeal one final time to the European Court of Human Rights, but that might be years in the future. In the meantime the pantomime looks set to continue.

This week on the podcast, we examine the case of a director who did everything to pursue what he thought was best for the company, including going behind the backs of other board members.

Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2026-uksc-21/

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• Karim Khan was removed as Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Link.

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• Prince Harry and others could be facing a huge legal bill due to an insurance shortfall. Link.

• More people were arrested at a rally in support of Palestine Action. Link.

• This came amidst chaos as more than 1,500 people involved in earlier protests had their cases listed. Link.

• Meanwhile it was revealed that the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the ban on Palestine Action. Link.

• The government is looking to rebalance the collective actions regime. Link.

• The UK AI litigation intelligence start-up Wexler was acquired by Legora. Link.

• Police misconduct processes will be reviewed as part of an overhaul of policing standards. Link.

• London-based law firm, Pinsent Masons elected a new senior partner following a contested election. Link.

• A candidate for Reform UK is trying to crowdfund his dismissal claim against a law firm. Link.

Since arrest warrants were issued against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for their respective roles in the Gaza genocide, Israel and the US have been out for blood.

This is not to say that the allegations of sexual misconduct against Khan should be ignored, but the context is worth exploring in detail.

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Of course there is only so much you can say after a cabinet reshuffle or, as Mic Wright has termed it, Transfer deadline day for d***heads. These manoeuvrings offer excellent fodder for journalists but, for those of us interested in actual policy, something of more substance is needed beyond a new figurehead at a government department.

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• Andy Burnham officially became the new Prime Minister signalling a change in direction from the government. Link.

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• One of the new PM’s first policy announcements was the decision to scrap the unpopular digital ID scheme. Link.

• The Attorney General was rebuked by the Lady Chief Justice. Link.

• Alex Norris became the new Justice Secretary. Link.

• Meanwhile there is also a new Attorney General and a new Solicitor General. Link.

• The law firm Gateley confirmed job cuts as its share price took a 50% dive over the past six months. Link.

• There was a suggestion that cabinet changes by the new PM could disrupt cyber security legislation. Link.

• Two ministers were accused of making making ‘cheap jokes’ about the prisoner early release scheme. Link.

• Facilities were urged to prepare for new rules relating to single sex spaces. Link.

• The UK legal sector has shown the fastest growth in 15 years. Link.