The restless fox-beater – who finds it “really hard losing cases” – has turned on erstwhile allies in Scotland by bringing the SNP Scottish government to heel. The Good Law Project threatened to launch a legal challenge against the Scottish government for failing to publish an environmental impact statement for their two-year-old budget. SNP officials admitted their breach of climate obligations and put out a statement that “urgent work is underway on a remedy”. Kimono man has welcomed his great victory over the SNP, for whose “quiet support“ in his countless failing cases he has always been grateful. Needless to say the Good Law Project “will be keeping a close eye on this” as they oblige bureaucrats to produce more useless research. Guido is reminded of Jolyon’s iron principle – that it “would be wrong for us to change our model to fight easier cases and improve our win rate”.
After attacking his friends and allies north of the border, the RSPCA’s best advert extended the hand of friendship by welcoming the “refreshing” contrition of the Scottish government, which “put its hand up and promised to address it”. With friends like these…
Fresh off another loss at the start of this week, it’s more bad news for Jolyon. The latest Good Law Project’s finances mirror their results in the courts, with regular and one-off donations falling from £4.2 million to £3.9 million in 2023. Crowdfunding also dropped by two-thirds from £1,862,978 to £601,025. Realising that contributions were essentially funding the government’s legal costs may have put donors off…
Jolyon would no doubt claim that the GLP’s net-surplus of £318,813 is a victory, despite this being a notable drop from £2,653,349 in 2022. However, the non-profit increased their expenditure this year, boosting their headcount to 27, up from just 16 in 2022. More hands doesn’t equal more wins…
Hat-tip: Steve Wilson
Good morning. Jolyon has lost again. Over the weekend the High Court threw out claims that the government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan is unlawful, after a challenge was brought forward by the Marine Conservation Society, WildFish, and of course, the Good Law Project. The judge dismissed the claims on the grounds that “it is not for the court to assess the merits of the policies in the plan” – in other words, ‘stop using the courts for political means’. As usual…
Government sources point out Defra’s plan actually goes further than the existing law in terms of reducing sewage dumping… so making a legal claim would have been difficult. While Jolyon has described his latest failure as “hard to stomach“, the GLP say they’re “unlikely to appeal the decision“. Wouldn’t want to drop another stinker…
James Harding’s lawfare attack on the Tories has, as expected, completely flopped. The former Times editor threatened to sue the party last August for their refusal to answer questions about their membership, with Jolyon himself even admitting it would be a losing effort. It turns out Jolyon was right, and Harding’s application for judicial review has been refused as unarguable. He now has to pay the Tories’ legal costs.
The court judgement said:
“As the Defendant is not a public body, nor exercising public functions, it is not susceptible to judicial review by the Claimant on public law grounds such as a failure to take into account relevant considerations…”
Given Harding’s threats evaporated almost as soon as he made them, Guido isn’t exactly surprised. When even the foxbeater reckons you’re going to lose, you probably will…
Read the full damning judgement below:
Jolyon is once again spinning victory from defeat. Here’s what the loser lawyer had to say after his appeal was comprehensively dismissed:
“We are pleased both members of the Panel agreed that LGB Alliance had “gone beyond the boundaries of civilised debate” and that one would not have registered LGB Alliance as a charity if Mermaids did have standing. We are also pleased it has recognised that the Charity Commission must do more to monitor LGB Alliance’s activities.”
As sure as night becomes day, Jolyon has lost again. This time, his loss comes on behalf of and in conjunction with transgender charity Mermaids, which was looking to appeal the charity status of gay rights group the LGB Alliance. The LGB Alliance are “delighted” by the “historic win”:
“We are delighted that the tribunal found in our favour and that Mermaids and the LGBT Consortium have failed in their bid to remove our charitable status.” Lesbians 1, Jolyon 0.
