James Webber

Essex man, EU/competition lawyer, dad to 3 boys. Views my own.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Natural England role as statutory consultee is bad enough - since Ministers Civil Service are too consensus orientated and meek in trading off the advice it gives against other considerations.

But here they are presented as having to “sign off”. How is that possible?

[Robert Colvile @rcolvile]

This is the point I keep making. Natural England are legally mandated to only care about the fish, not Putin, power cuts, bankrupt businesses etc. We have eliminated any concept of ‘trade-offs’, at vast expense.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Deplorable piece. Nothing in here about the amazing job the school and its teachers have done for many thousands of children. It’s a shame life hasn’t turned out as the complainers hoped. But a wonderful school is too easy a target for grievance.

https://t.co/tDMRehI9gk

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

@DanielCreminGB @thinkdefence Indeed - although I made the switch much earlier having seen close up how the EU behaved especially with respect to Northern Ireland.

[David Paton @cricketwyvern]

UK trade data for 2025 published yesterday. We now have 10 years of data since the EU ref & 5 since we left the customs union.

Remember the OBR forecast Brexit would reduce UK trade by 15% (hence their forecast of a 4% hit to productivity).

Let’s see how that is working out …

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

@davidrkadler Good for you David

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

That's something the UK could also join and encourage. The status quo is unsustainable - those that value the Convention system have a responsibility to save it from itself. In the UK there's a window of a few years before the election.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Thoughtful piece on ECHR from Catherine Barnard. She looks at the possibility of a new Protocol to recast the Convention - especially with respect to processing of asylum seekers and expel foreign criminals. https://t.co/KdOnmTZkhz

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

She also highlights the UK is far from alone here. Denmark, Italy Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Estonia and the Czech Republic wrote an open letter demanding changes regarding illegal migration in May. https://t.co/CGh5aFzRaX

[Statsministeriet @Statsmin]

Læs hele det fælles brev her: https://t.co/1KIIgIIVKx

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Extraordinary. The UK and EU have been far too passive for far too long. This outrageous “plan” needs to be a moment of rupture. Even Germany has taken steps on arms exports in response. Time for the first package of comprehensive sanctions on Israel.

[Muhammad Shehada @muhammadshehad2]

Folks are asking what does Netanyahu’s occupation plan mean, since Israel already occupies Gaza?

It means implementing the notorious “Generals Plan” to Gaza city, Deir al-Bala & Nusairat; the only last 3 areas Israel hasn’t fully wiped out & where most Gazans are sheltering🧵

[Peter Kay (🦋@theonlypeterkay.bsky.social) @theonlypeterkay]

A powerful corrective from @rachshabi on the issue of hate speech vs hate actions/state terror : “it is absolutely shameful and a disgrace that the media is focusing on this, and not having the headlines running day after day on the atrocities that have been committed in Gaza”1/2

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

@academic_la I find your commentary to be fascinating, brave and brimming with integrity. Thank you.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

A good thread from @LordRickettsP on what the UK, France, Canada and others should be doing now. Targeted sanctions against men like Smotrich and Ben Gvir are overdue. As is suspension of the remaining export licences.

[Peter Ricketts @LordRickettsP]

My thoughts on where next on Gaza. Netanyahu’s attack on Starmer Macron and Carney is how he operates. When under pressure he lashes out. But it is wholly consistent both to denounce Hamas terrorism and to criticise the Israeli Gov’t for its Gaza blockade https://t.co/s2CpCD8jkv

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Well done. Countering misinformation is tiring but vital work.

[Jonathan Brash MP @JonathanBrash]

Total nonsense from this grifter. The NI rules only apply to Indian companies in India, who send temporary workers to the UK for Indian Businesses, and not Indians on Work Visas being hired by UK businesses.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

It remains common to find British elite people wishing the UK ill in order to be proved right re Brexit. You see it in the latest reset negotiations. Where the EU is briefing ludicrous positions - and folk in London think it ok / what the UK somehow deserves.

[Ben Williams @FaringForwards]

Callum Williams, senior economics writer at the Economist:

[Peter Oborne @OborneTweets]

I've reviewed Sayeeda Warsi's new book. The scale and virulence of the bigotry this decent, conservative minded woman (and so many other Muslims) were obliged to live with takes the breath away. Read it and weep:

https://t.co/LNKwwIJaJ4

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

If it can be proved that
it's not genocide
that would be a huge relief.
It would mean that it's only
a huge massacre,
mass killing
and widespread slaughter
In which case
it would be OK.

[Kenneth Roth @KenRoth]

At the request of the UN General Assembly, Switzerland in March will convene the states party to the Geneva Conventions (pretty much every government) to address Israel's wholesale flouting of their requirements in Gaza and elsewhere in Occupied Territory. https://t.co/kQsajOIVlE

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

Even though most cases fail, abusive judicial review has real costs. government decision making more difficult and costly; a false public impression of the role of the courts; raises the barrier for legitimate claims as courts become more sceptical.

[James Webber @jamesrwebber]

@ftukpolitics Disgraceful intervention. The UK government has a clear democratic mandate to withdraw its subsidy to these schools. It is unacceptable for foreign governments to seek to undermine that. If France and Germany wish to increase their subsidy they are welcome to do so.

[Joyce Msuya @JoyceMsuya]

The entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying.