Another day, another defeat for Jolyon Maugham. This time, it’s his ill-fated attempt to oust Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption. Earlier this month, the Good Law Project launched a campaign titled “Protest adviser must be removed for conflicts of interest,” writing to the Lords Commissioners for Standard alleging Walney had violated the House of Lords’ code of conduct. A strong accusation from the fox-beater…
Now, a solid 14 days later, the House of Lords Standards Commissioner has dismissed the complaint. Lord Walney posted on X he was “very pleased” with the swift result. It’s a defeat in record time, even for Jolyon…
The Good Law Project’s soul-searching post-election period looks like it’s coming along. It now says it “has decided to revert to the model operated by other legal non-profits of procuring legal services through an in-house legal team and is closing its wholly owned law firm Good Law Practice.“ Curious that the practice designed to litigate against the government has closed swiftly after… the change of government…
So long to likely the worst-performing judicial review practice the UK legal system has ever seen. Last week Jolyon’s outfit sent a survey to its supporters asking whether they should attack the government any more now that the election is finished. Looks like they’ve settled on an answer…
Guido has long documented the travails of notorious legal loser Maugham. Jolyon declared seven weeks ago that he was leaving for “the mountains” and would be back in two weeks. Jolyon’s project will continue, though now with less enthusiasm and capacity to challenge the government. Surprise, surprise…
Jolyon Maugham and his Good Law Project have faced yet another defeat. Earlier this year, Jolyon’s brigade attempted to overturn former Health Secretary Victoria Atkins’ ban on puberty blockers, raising a whopping £60,000 from gullible donors to fight their case. The High Court has now upheld the ban, citing a study that identified “very substantial risks and very narrow benefits” of puberty blockers. Another one bites the dust…
The Good Law Project took to X to bemoan their loss, promising they are “consulting on next steps.” This marks the second case Jolyon has managed to lose in less than a week. When will credulous donors wake up and realise that when it comes to campaigns, Jolyon seems to be the kiss of death?
The Good Law Project celebrated in May when the Gambling Commission opened an investigation at its request into the charity GambleAware. Jolyon’s crew launched their assault because some of its funding comes from the gambling industry (normal) and its campaigns advocate adult self-control instead of the complete shut-down of the gambling industry:
“GambleAware runs high-profile advertising campaigns which experts say ‘imply that gamblers are a unique category of people who are personally to blame for their losses’, reflecting ‘a discourse promoted by the gambling industry which attempts to shift blame for gambling-related harm away from aggressively marketed harmful products and on to individual gamblers’. Instead of helping people to stop gambling, the charity blames the people it should help and advises them to gamble ‘responsibly’.”
Apparently that means that it is “violating Charity Law” by “failing to meet its charitable objectives” of helping problem gamblers. As you’d expect, the Charity Commission have pretty swiftly opened and shut the case:
“We received the necessary assurance that the trustees have been handling matters as we would expect including taking appropriate steps to ensure its independence from the gambling industry. The trustees have satisfied the Commission that they have the right processes in place to ensure they are furthering their purposes.”
Another doomed campaign funded by gullible donors. Guido doubts he’ll see this update on the Good Law Project’s page. Jolyon declared over the weekend that he would be off twitter “in the mountains” for two weeks. Guido regrets to give him the news…
Jolyon Maugham often uses the fact that he is a KC to defend his losing arguments on X. Just two weeks ago, he used his title to reject the view he was “extremely misleading“. ‘I am a KC’, don’t you know…
Though now he’s changed his X bio to “Used to be a King’s Counsel”. Despite the fact on the Good Law Projects’ page, he still boasts the title of “Jo Maugham KC”, it looks like his practising certification expired at the end of last month. He no longer pops up on the Bar Standards Board website either. Co-conspirators can feel free to get in touch with any insight…
Jolyon has lost again. After government lawyers skewered the Good Law Project for their “misinformation” campaign against Voter ID law, Jolyon tried to challenge the law through judicial review. His attempt has been firmly rebuked by the High Court…
Justice Beverley Lang has sided with government lawyers in stating that Jolyon’s claim, for which he collected £60,000 from his hapless fans, is “unarguable“:
“The new voter ID requirements were introduced by the Elections Act 2022. There are 22 accepted forms of voter ID. They include voter authority certificates (“VAC”) which are a free form of photo ID intended primarily for electors who do not have access to other types of voter ID.“
Jolyon’s claimant, a “trans woman with disabilities, who has no photographic identification”, is not “personally or directly affected” by the government’s refusal to expand the list of acceptable ID because she can get a free VAC. The Good Law Project now has to pay the government another £6,296.35. On top of the £539,766 that Jolyon’s outfit has already supplied the government since 2017, this is salt in the wound…
