As the Guardian triumphantly reports on the so-called “top barristers” signing a declaration refusing to prosecute the likes of Extinction Rebellion, Guido couldn’t help noticing a few big names attaching their signatures to the list. First is Jolyon, obviously, who’s the brains behind the whole idea. Quite how a tax lawyer who’s not even on the Crown Prosecution Service panel – and therefore not a prosecutor – was ever going to be useful in a prosecution case is anyone’s guess…

Then there’s his partner in crime Tim Crosland, who according to the Guardian, co-organised the declaration with the foxbeater. Crosland says “it’s time to take a stand” because “behind every new oil and gas deal sits a lawyer getting rich”. Obviously a learned man of deep principles.

Even so, it’s not exactly an act of courage from Crosland. He was disbarred in January for disclosing a draft Supreme Court judgment which had been circulated under embargo. According to The Law Society Gazette, the tribunal found that Crosland “behaved in a way which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or in the profession and behaved in a way which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity.” This, apparently, still meets the definition of “top lawyer” these days…