London Calling

The UK - it's a reality TV show ... Dave Cameron back in ... Prosecutor in trouble for pursuing an affair with the defendant ... Celebrity hacking trial against the Daily Mail pushes ahead ... Supreme Court sinks the Rwanda solution ... Solicitor binned after dangling a job that didn't exist ... HM spells out law 'n' order agenda ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt files from Blighty 

How is it already November? I still feel like it's 2016, partly because David Cameron is back in government as Foreign Minister. 

Indeed, the reality TV show that is British politics has revived one of its fallen to boost ratings. And in an even more bizarre crossover between reality TV and politics, Nigel Farage is going on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! I've only been in Britain for four months ... should I be getting out of here?

Out of bounds

It turns out the old adage is true, opposites attract - especially on opposite sides of the court room. This month, barrister Drew St'Clair was suspended after it was discovered he romantically pursued a defendant he was prosecuting. 

The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service banned St'Clair from practicing for 26 months. If he decides to pursue the dating apps in his down time, I might suggest widening the radius beyond the courtroom. 

The tribunal determined that St'Clair had violated a clear professional boundary - abusing his position by utilising personal contact information acquired during the course of the case to pursue a relationship with the defendant. 

The Bar Standards Board condemned the behaviour calling it "manifestly incompatible with the high standards expected of the bar by those experiencing the justice system and the wider public"., 

"The tribunal's order to suspend Mr St'Clair reflects the seriousness of such behaviour." 

Hacked celebrities take on the hacks

Nicklin: round one to celebsNovember has been a good month for celebrities - Taylor Swift is in love, the actors' strike is over and Prince Harry (and others) have won their bid to take their phone hacking case to trial. 

On November 10, 2023, Matthew Nicklin J held that the seven claimants - Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE, Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John CH CBE, David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Prince Harry and Sadie Frost Law - each had a substantial chance of overcoming any limitation defence asserted by the Daily Mail. As such, the case will proceed to trial. 

Temporary reporting restrictions on naming the Mail's offending hacks remain in place - and are scheduled for reconsideration at a hearing fixed for November 21. 

Cutland chopped

It is difficult enough to obtain a training contract as a law graduate, yet infinitely more difficult to land a training contract that never existed. 

Solicitor Andrew James Cutland has been struck off the jam roll for fabricating a false job offer to his friend. 

Please note, "friend" is used ironically in this context. Cutland posed as a director of Bartlett Gooding & Weelen Solicitors (BGW) and offered his friend a fictitious training contract. 

The friend first became suspicious when she learned that Cutland was married despite him swearing hand on heart that he wasn't.  

I might have been wrong about the UK being a reality TV show ... it's actually much more of a soap opera. 

When the friend found out that Cutland had lied to her and did not have the authority to offer her a training contract, Netflix said we'll buy it! 

Kidding. The friend was left "hurt, humiliated and distraught". Then Netflix said we'll buy it. 

Cutland argued that his friend had fabricated incriminating text messages and denied having ever offered her a job or represented himself as a director. The cast of Selling Sunset could only dream of this level of gaslighting.

The tribunal held that Cutland had engaged in a "cruel fictitious exchange" - legal speak for bonkers - even going so far as to encourage his friend to tell her family about the job. 

In dismissing Cutland's version of events, the tribunal concluded that he was driven by "self-importance and self-aggrandisement". The make believe job merchant was struck off and ordered to pay £17,489 in costs - close to the cost of paying a trainee solicitor.  

Rishi's asylum plan scuttled

Rwanda trip cancelled

The UK Supreme Court has thrown overboard the government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. 

In a unanimous decision, five judges supported the Court of Appeal's findings that deported refugees face a genuine risk that their claims would be mishandled in Rwanda, leading to asylum seekers being wrongly sent back to their countries of origin. 

The ruling sinks Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats". 

The government had argued that the £140 million Rwanda initiative would act as a significant deterrent for the increasing number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats crossing the Channel.

President of the Supreme Court Lord Reed announced the decision. 

"We are unanimously of the view that [judges of the Court of Appeal] were entitled to reach that conclusion. Indeed, having been taken through the evidence ourselves, we agree with their conclusion." 

The Financial Times declared that the government migrant policy is in "disarray" and that plans to amend the appropriately named Illegal Migration Act should be scrapped. 

The Tories were hell bent on blowing the boat arrivals "into a political issue out of all proportion to the number of asylum seekers". 

The King's Speech (minus Colin Firth) 

Heralding the government's crime crackdown

On November 7 King Charles, looking miserable in ermine and pearls, delivered the government's speech at the state opening of parliament. 

Thankfully the speech was printed so there were no outbursts over a leaky pen. 

The King announced key Law 'n' Order measures, including a Sentencing Bill mandating whole-life orders in severe cases; a Criminal Justice Bill empowering judges to ensure criminals face victims during sentencing; a Police Powers in Seizure Bill allowing warrantless entry to seize allegedly stolen goods; and a Data Protection and Digital Information Bill establishing a new UK data rights regime. 

The agenda also included an Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill addressing evolving threats; an Automated Vehicles Bill enabling passenger immunity in self-driving vehicles; an Arbitration Bill aimed at updating arbitration laws; and a Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill simplifying acquisitions and restricting new leasehold houses. 

Some may find it odd that His Majesty made no mention of season six of the Crown that premiered on November 16. 

However, those in the know understand the purpose of the King's speech is to promote the next season of this tiny isle's desperately surprising, but always entertaining reality series.