Jolyon’s most preposterous crowdfunded case has finally reached court, almost a full two years after the People’s Maugham originally convinced over three thousand suckers generous donors to donate £107,650 to his case seeking a £1.06 VAT invoice from Uber so he can claim it back as a business expense. That’s right, one pound and six pence…

Twitter’s most irritating Remoaner QC claims that the case could force Uber to cough up £1 billion in VAT payments according to his personal calculations, his own lawyer goes for the more conservative estimate of £200 million. Maugham is trying to add 20% to the cost of every single Uber journey, naturally the black cab lobby is delighted and is right behind his case. Not so much women who rely on Uber to get home from a night out safely and affordably…

Of course, Maugham has no qualms about making life more expensive for everybody else because as Guido can reveal from the official case documentation, Jolyon’s own personal income is a whopping £400,000 a year – net of expenses:

The hypocrisy of someone who is prepared to go to great lengths to repeatedly convince thousands of gullible members of the public of the importance of backing his futile vanity lawsuits while apparently not putting a penny of his own vast income behind them is truly staggering. Not to mention his repeated attacks on others who don’t divulge the identities of their donors. At least he’ll have been able to stockpile plenty of no-deal contingency quinoa with all that cash…