Adrian Hilton
@Adrian_Hilton
Followers
27K
Following
18
Media
5K
Statuses
28K
Author and lecturer in the philosophy and history of political policy and political theology. FRSA, FRHistS. Shakespeare @GWR holder https://t.co/ZbSifjYbFw
Joined May 2010
Absolutely delighted to receive my copy of the ‘Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher’—a magnificent volume to see published in her centennial year—which includes my essay ‘The art of Margaret Thatcher’, based on a lecture I gave at @SomervilleOx in 2019.
3
8
35
📘 'Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher' contributors including @ZMistryResearch @ZeenaMistry_ @DanJTPitt @Adrian_Hilton @HorcherF. 2/
2
3
8
At the House of Lords for the launch of the ‘Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher’, the seminal tome for her centennial year. Chaired by @LordNortonLouth, with many fascinating contributions from those who knew her, overwhelmingly reiterating just how *kind* she was.
1
4
19
An inquiry into ‘grooming gangs’ which is not concerned with looking at every local area where they have operated, or at every case in each area, is an inquiry which isn't interested in identifying links, trends or patterns in data. I wonder why.
The draft Terms of Reference for the grooming gangs inquiry says it will not be "exhaustive" and will consider evidence from January 2000 https://t.co/edabkkNqBk
2
12
32
No, the first Palestinian elected president of the Oxford Union was Gershon Hirsch in 1941, who served as president in Hilary 1942. I'd expect @hzomlot to know the history of Palestinian pioneers in the UK. Arwa Elrayess is propagating a self-aggrandising trailblazing myth.
Meet Arwa Elrayess—the first Palestinian elected president of the Oxford Union in its 202-year history. I’ve known Arwa and her family since she was a teenager. She is from #Gaza, and now she’s making history at #Oxford, championing open debate on human rights, justice, and
0
0
9
‘Where does this symbol come from?’ It is a matter of historic record that the designer of the @CoE flag, Arsène Heitz, explained the inspiration was the twelve-star halo of the Virgin Mary, identified by Roman Catholics as the Queen of Heaven in Revelation (12:1). It was adopted
💙 Happy Birthday to the European Flag! Adopted 70 years ago by the Council of Europe, it became the #EU emblem in 1985. 12 stars. Blue sky. A circle of unity. A symbol for the whole of Europe and shared values. Learn more: https://t.co/9v2xItXF8O
2
5
12
Imagine being sacked as a teacher and barred from working with children for stating the legal and constitutional polity of the United Kingdom and its established churches.
31
281
1K
This is a most unedifying “Know your place” from one Tory to another, which errs in some key respects: i) the principle of primacy is not absolute, but specific and contingent on constitutional triggers; ii) electoral authority is questionable in a Bill which has not been placed
And while I have enormous respect for you, David, our respective votes are not equivalent in constitutional character. I vote with electoral authority, you vote with a revising function that should not ultimately be decisive. An asymmetry central to the principle of primacy.
6
12
86
What is the moral-economic rationale for making it so expensive to employ young people on the minimum wage that companies cut jobs, and then forcing jobless young people into taxpayer-funded employment in hospitality or construction? Why not incentivise the creation of real jobs?
The Employment Rights Bill is back in the Commons today. MPs should think hard about the jobs that won’t be created and the people who won’t be hired if we allow some of the most damaging aspects of the Bill onto our Statue Book. The Government is currently on track to move
1
2
12
Stanley Baldwin is a much underrated prime minister, and far more worthy of an ‘-ism’ than any prime minister since Mrs Thatcher who has been accorded one (or appropriated one) merely by virtue of becoming prime minister. Baldwinism. I may have to write a paper.
I've always thought myself very lucky to have grown up in Metro-Land. It's little surprise that Stanley Baldwin and John Betjeman ended up as my lodestars.
0
1
10
The whole resource pack runs to *43* pages, all aimed to counter @TRobinsonNewEra. When ever has a bishop in the @ChurchofEngland so laboured to rescue the gospel of Christ?
docs.google.com
‘Good news of great joy… for all!’ Supporting churches to respond to the co-option of Christmas by the far Right Introduction Local churches across the UK will already have well-developed plans for...
1
2
18
The posters are curious, not least because they show outsiders kept outside, behind a barrier. But if you preach that they should be inside, you should have a dozen asylum seekers staying in your homes, and more at Christmas. Christ spoke to individuals, not nations.
1
2
9
I see that the @ChurchofEngland has produced a ‘rapid response’ resource to counter @TRobinsonNewEra's aim of ‘putting Christ back into Christmas’. They accuse him of co-opting Christian language and symbols “for a nationalist agenda”. They might reflect on Philippians 1:15-18.
18
6
36
“the elected House must be insulated from an unelected chamber” A neat rhetortical assertion, but constitutionally incorrect. Assisted Dying is not a government bill. The Lords are tasked with revising it to make it workable. Many in the Commons voted ‘Aye’ for that very reason.
A neat rhetorical move, but constitutionally upside down. The Lords’ limits exist because the primacy of the elected House must be insulated from an unelected chamber, not because that primacy is in doubt. The settlement works to prevent precisely the scenario you imply.
0
9
63
There are various limits on the Lords’ powers, both legal and conventional. If it were true that “Respect for the primacy of the Commons is not optional; it is the foundation of our parliamentary legitimacy”, none of them would be necessary. This letter both overstates and
NEW: In a joint letter, senior peers including 3 former cabinet secretaries and 3 former Lords speakers have warned peers not to use procedural manoeuvres to thwart the assisted dying bill. With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
19
107
419
‘I not deny, The jury, passing on the prisoner's life, May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two Guiltier than him they try. What's open made to justice, That justice seizes: what know the laws That thieves do pass on thieves? 'Tis very pregnant, The jewel that we find, we
Yes, juries can be biased, ignorant and wrong. Some jurors disbelieve the police on principle. Some struggle to speak English. But if you think the answer is to replace them with judges, I have two words for you: Lucy Connolly. https://t.co/GhwfrbIpuL
0
0
8
This letter from former Cabinet Secretaries and others is straightforwardly wrong regarding the constitutional role of the House of Lords relative to the role of the Commons. /1
NEW: In a joint letter, senior peers including 3 former cabinet secretaries and 3 former Lords speakers have warned peers not to use procedural manoeuvres to thwart the assisted dying bill. With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
8
98
291
The thing about this is that I can't recall #C4News consulting a Holocaust survivor on Jeremy Corbyn's adult anti-Semitism (for which evidence is abundant), asking if he was “morally fit” to be Leader of the Opposition. But Nigel Farage's schooldays are somehow more material.
I'm not sure about this. I watched #C4News last night, and @mattfrei interviewed a *Holocaust survivor* about @Nigel_Farage's alleged comments. She was eloquent and nuanced in the matter of the truth of the allegations. Regardless, he asked her if Farage was “morally fit” to be
0
3
17
Pine marten.
0
1
16
I wonder if @elonmusk has read ‘The Trap’. He seems to be channelling the late, great Sir James Goldsmith.
FAFO: Elon Musk is now calling for the abolition of the EU "The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people"
1
0
1