One of the delightful things about historical research is when it throws up completely unexpected facts irrelevant to what you are looking for. I remember thirty years ago finding that Richard Cobden had investments in railways in Illinois which increased sharply in value after the repeal of the Corn Laws opened up new trade routes for the vast agricultural produce of the mid-West.

I discovered today that Lord Liverpool – Britain’s most repressive Prime Minister bar Tony Blair – was an Anglo-Indian, though whether his Indian blood was an eighth or a quarter I am not quite sure. I had no idea of this. It is also a great thing that, though it seems the fact was well known, even in the bitterest period of modern British politics (1815-20) I can find no evidence of any racial jibe being made against him.

Lord Liverpool an Anglo-Indian. A black Prime Minister two hundred years before Barack Obama. Well I never.

Bahrain is threatening to sue the Independent for reporting on its rulers campaign of murder, torture, imprisonment and intimidation of its native population using foreign forces and mercenaries. Personally I advocate attacking the offices (when empty) of any British law firm which acts for them in this. Let me say that again, just in case those responsible for charging people with glorifying terrorism missed it: personally I advocate attacking the offices (when empty) of any British law firm which acts for them in this.

This is not a case of lawyers doing their impartial duty, as when defending someone, be they never so bad, under the criminal law so they can get a fair trial. This is about repressing the truth about an evil, murdering dictatorship and restricting the liberty of good, honest people – including Robert Fisk. It is not a neutral act of testing the law for lawyers to accept huge sums to try to attack British freedom in this way.

There is an interesting parallel between this case and Lola Karimova’s ongoing attempt to sue a French website for calling Karimov a dictator and mentioning the billions her father and family have stolen (Lola Karimova lives in an $85 million house in Geneva). It is interesting that both attempts are made on behalf of dictators who are backed to the hilt by western – and especially NATO – governments. Any success for the tyrants involved would be a shocking indictment of modern Western society.