Tax lawyer Jolyon and his band of disbarred “top barristers” hit headlines at the end of last week for the announcement that they would refuse to prosecute eco-activists, even though they couldn’t have done so anyway. Actively refusing a client requires that an important professional principle for barristers, called the cab rank rule, is ignored. Jolyon himself previously said “It exists to protect the principle that everyone is entitled to a fair trial”. Presumably “everyone” now excludes the people Jolyon disagrees with…
In a blog post from 2015, Maugham cited the cab rank rule as the reason he could defend tax avoiders, which he admits makes up the “vast majority” of his client base, in clear conscience:
“That rule obliges me to accept such instructions as I am offered. It exists to protect the principle that everyone is entitled to a fair trial. And although the operation of the cab rank rule is (in practice) easy to escape, it’s an important rule and I have never sought to escape it.”
He was happy to stick to the rule to offer tax avoiders a fair trial for years yet is now all too eager to ignore it to help environmental extremists off the hook. At least we know where his priorities lie.
Jolyon’s fellow barristers haven’t exactly rushed to his defence either. A co-conspirator gets in touch to share this image of a LinkedIn post from a fellow KC:
With m’learned friends like these who need enemies…
The FT reports that billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Hohn’s TCI fund has demanded that the world’s largest plane maker Airbus abandon its politically motivated bid for a stake in a French cyber security firm.
Chris Hohn, for whom Rishi Sunak used to work, has written to Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury, as one of the jet maker’s largest shareholders, saying the proposed deal appeared to be a “bailout of Atos, a company that is burdened with unsustainable levels of debt and other liabilities”. “We want Airbus to focus on producing aircraft,” TCI tells the FT, “This looks like a politically motivated bailout.”
Hohn demanding Airbus focuses on producing more carbon emitting jets strikes Guido as hypocritical. Because according to the Guardian, Hohn is the single biggest individual donor to Extinction Rebellion, who are famously fond of blocking airport runways and London ambulances. “Humanity is aggressively destroying the world with climate change and there is an urgent need for us all to wake up to this fact,” Hohn claimed when he was revealed as XR’s main funder. Hohn’s fund has a €3 billion investment in Airbus and is a long-term holder of the shares. Airbus creates machines that emit millions of tonnes of carbon every day. By Guido’s calculation, that makes the billionaire backer of Extinction Rebellion the world’s biggest hypocrite…
As the country gets some rare respite from strikes, Guido’s attention has returned to the other rabble of leftie loons grinding public services to a halt. An FoI Request to the Metropolitan Police has revealed the staggering cost of eco-loons’ protests. Over the past year alone, they’ve cost the taxpayer well over £18,000,000.
This can be broken down as follows:
- Just Stop Oil protests on 14th March – 7th April: £505,480
- Extinction Rebellion Protests 8th – 18th April: £10,126,973
- Just Stop Oil Protests August 26th: £81,644
- Just Stop Oil Protests 1st October – 14th November: £6,499, 753
- Just Stop Oil Protests 28th November – 14th December: £982,433
These are just the costs to the Met Police specifically – they don’t include other police forces, costs incurred at a national level or the cost of dealing with damage amongst others. In this vein, Guido can also reveal the cost of cleaning up Just Stop Oil’s protest at the Bank of England to be £20,644. When combined with figures previously reported by the Telegraph for other costs, this brings the total cost to well over £60,000,000. At £150 per hectare, that’s enough to fund government woodland planting grants for an area the size of the Forest of Dean. 35 times over.
The Met’s released data also includes arrests at eco-loon events in April and then from October to December. These include:
- 688 for highway obstruction
- 115 for criminal damage
- 97 for public order offences
- 37 for aggravated trespass
- 2 for conspiracy to commit arson
- 2 for theft
- 2 for possession of a deadly weapon
- 1 for drugs
- 1 for assault on a police officer
In total there were over 1,000 arrests. Just 24% resulted in a charge.
Extinction Rebellion has broken its New Year’s resolution after just 18 days. Having made a “controversial resolution” at the end of the year to stop vandalising property, gluing themselves to the road, and wasting everyone’s time, today they fell off the wagon and returned to their bad habits. Never make a promise you can’t keep…
A group of protesters showed up outside the Home Office this afternoon, armed with black paint and ponchos, to prat about on the pavement and scream like children. Even treating pedestrians to a strange, ritualistic dance…
To be fair, they did also promise to “stand together and become impossible to ignore” this year. Living up to that part, at least…
An Extinction Rebellion loon who vandalised Barclays’ London HQ broke down in tears during a court appearance yesterday, after the jury found her and six other activists guilty of causing over £100,000 worth of criminal damage to the building earlier this year. Carol Wood, who was the only member of the group not with a previous conviction, reportedly couldn’t hold back the waterworks once she realised smashing windows and throwing paint around might finally land her in a cell…
The group were warned yesterday they could now face up to 18 months in prison, with the judge claiming “all options” were on the table following their conviction. The sentencing is set for January 27. Enjoy Christmas dinner, Carol, it may be a gruel-heavy February…
Co-conspirators struggling with the cost of living might want to click away.
Billionaire Sir Chris Hohn has just raked in a staggering £575 million in dividends – the biggest ever payout enjoyed by a UK individual. Now, this wouldn’t be of note – Guido isn’t in the business of wealth-based grievance politics – were it not for Hohn’s extra-curricular antics. Sir Chris is the biggest individual backer of Extinction Rebellion, bunging it an estimated £200,000. Road closures are all well and good when you can afford to avoid them…
With £575 million, Sir Chris could contribute to a range of causes. He could plant millions of trees, cover the WHO’s malaria vaccine roll-out in 10 African countries or expand free school meal coverage to 1.1 million more children. Instead, he’s paying for oat-milk-drinking interpretative dancers to prance in Trafalgar Square and glue themselves to classical art. Hohn’s penchant for spending is less surprising considering the company he keeps. He used to be Rishi Sunak’s boss.
