Stop the presses – Jolyon has won. Last night, the Kimono King’s Good Law Project announced they’d succeeded in getting the government to publish £248m missing Covid contracts in an apparent breach of its own transparency policy. The contracts relate to the ventilator procurement programme; the GLP say there are currently 29 missing in action. Now, after Jolyon once again threatened a judicial review, the Cabinet Office has admitted to a “regrettable oversight”, and vowed to publish the contracts by the end of this month:

“Our client is currently reviewing its compliance with the Transparency Policy in relation to the Contracts. As a result of this ongoing review, it has become apparent that information was not published in accordance with the Transparency Policy, which our client notes is a regrettable oversight. Consequently, our client will publish any outstanding information (subject to any redactions/exemptions that may apply) by 28 February 2023.”

He didn’t actually win in court, the government was reminded to do what it was supposed to do. Incidentally Guido is with Jolyon on these transparency initiatives – sunlight is the best disinfectant. By coincidence this morning’s news that Britain avoided recession was accompanied by analysis from the ONS who say the fall in output during December was “partially offset by a strong month for lawyers.” 

In many ways, Jolyon’s constant politicking via the courts has kept Britain out of recession. As a Treasury source joked to Guido:

“Joylon’s lost cause judicial reviews are swiftly becoming a key strategic industry. At this rate they’ll be eligible for investment reliefs.”

Another added:

“Separating gullible lefties from their money is a booming industry. See Steve Bray – he hasn’t had to work a day since 2016.”

For boosting the economy he’s a Joly-on good fellow…