CLIVE GOMES @CTG2011

@francesca_kms @willnorman Looks good

Former High Court Judge Sir Stephen Mitchell has delivered a devastating critique of Labour’s plans to curtail trial by jury. No manifesto mandate. Just 13 days for MPs to scrutinise complex proposals that strike at a fundamental safeguard of British justice. His warning is stark: those with an impeccable record could be denied a jury trial, while repeat offenders may be more likely to receive one. As Sir Stephen puts it, that is “an affront to any notion of justice”. Court backlogs are already falling through less controversial reforms. We should fix the system without dismantling one of its most important protections.

Jurors, lawyers and social workers face 'resilience test' in inaccessible courts bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Rape conviction quashed due to defence barrister’s failings zurl.co/7oe9X

While @ZackPolanski was struggling to make ends meet like so many in the UK (and is now cleared of council tax offences), the Labour Party was taking a £4m donation from Quadrature Capital, a "quant-based" trading and hedge fund that has held shares in arms companies involved in Gaza. Quadrature's immediate parent company, QC Ventures, is based in the Cayman Islands. The £4m donation was made in May 2024 to fund the Labour Party's General Election campaign... but wasn't made public until after the election. No one knew that the Party had taken its largest ever single donation and from whom until after Starmer had been elected Prime Minister. Some handy updates since then... In October 2025, Quadrature declared that it had made a yearly profit of £410m as of the end of January 2025. Quadrature paid out dividends of £360m. Two months ago, it was revealed that the co-founder and co-director of Quadrature, Sunil Seitiya, spent at least £265 million buying Providence House in Chelsea. It is the most that has ever been spent on a private house sale in the UK. Providence House is based on a two-acre plot and has the second largest private garden in central London after Buckingham Palace. Here's the kicker: Seitiya bought the property from Nick Candy. Nick Candy has been the Treasurer of Reform since December 2024. Whatever you might think of Polanski, or Reform, or Starmer, isn't it strange you've likely heard of Polanki's Council Tax but none of this? And, if you had heard of it, wouldn't you end up wondering - isn't this just one big club?

Owen Jones @owenjonesjourno

a week ago

Zack Polanski has been cleared over the payment of council tax. All the people who attacked him should apologise. Of course, all politicians should be scrutinised. But @ZackPolanski is being smeared because he threatens an order rigged in favour of the rich.

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"In 2025 there were around 2,500 cell fires, that's on average about seven a day. 18% of fires have resulted in injuries." Our Managing Solicitor, Sinead MacCann, gave evidence to the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee this morning on fire safety in prison. Watch: committees.parliament.uk/event/27467

How much political time has been spent on the dismal proposals to restrict jury trial? Proposals now bodied by the committee report and drifting with no Third Reading date chalked up? Are they binning it? Are they proceeding? Do they know? And - in the meantime - what is this?👇🏼

Court_Stats @Court_Stats

a week ago

📈Today, 16 June 2026, 87 out of the 532 Crown courtrooms in England & Wales will not be sitting. That's 16% of them. #courtstats #CS16062026 courtstats.co.uk

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"Nineteen thousand." WATCH: The Justice and Home Affairs Committee hears that 19,000 people are being held in prison cells without automatic fire detection equipment. And that's not to mention all the other fire safety improvement works that are required across the estate.

People who don't ride bikes should be delighted when other people ride bikes. Get as many drivers out of your way as possible. 🥳

"Nineteen thousand." WATCH: The Justice and Home Affairs Committee hears that 19,000 people are being held in prison cells without automatic fire detection equipment. And that's not to mention all the other fire safety improvement works that are required across the estate.

The problem we have is that @Keir_Starmer thinks he’s right about everything and anybody that has the temerity to disagree with him is wrong. “I’m not doing this by committee” is the phrase he uses means “I’m right, you’re wrong”. It’s not leadership. It’s the opposite. I found this out on the utterly ludicrous jury trial curtailment plan. He nodded nicely to me and then still appeared to plough on. He’s not up to it. It saddens me as a lawyer, I looked up to him. I thought he was the answer and that he believed in something. He doesn’t believe in anything much. There isn’t a single member of the cabinet that has confidence in him other than those that know once Keir is gone, they are on the backbenches (and let’s be honesty most of them shouldn’t have been in the cabinet at all). If your life’s dream is to be in the cabinet you are in the wrong job. Those that aren’t fussed about being in it should be the ones that are in the cabinet. Doing it for the country and what you actually believe must matter more than doing it for yourself. NOT LONG NOW!

Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield

2 weeks ago

NEW: Keir Starmer replies to John Healey’s resignation letter, and tells him he’s wrong about the Defence Investment Plan. He says it delivers “an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way”. “It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe

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No evidence that scrapping juries for many offences will cut court backlog bit.ly/4xlsVSV

The Justice Committee has criticised the government's plan to limit the right to a jury trial because it lacks "a concrete evidential basis”. In the Times today, our Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said "it’s difficult to understand why the government has not sought to achieve a broader consensus both in and outside parliament on these proposals before pushing ahead…” Read more: bit.ly/4e0xAlQ #JusticeNeedsJuries @Kirsty_Brimelow

The Government’s proposed reforms to jury trials risk undermining public confidence in our justice system without addressing the root causes of delay. @thetimes

The Lord Chancellor is ignoring the very people who understand our justice system best. The legal profession has raised grave concerns about plans to curtail jury trials. We should listen 📺 @GBNEWS @tomhfh @CarverEmily

David Lammy’s proposals to restrict the right to jury trial have been examined by the Justice Committee of the House of Commons. And. Well. Um. It’s *quite* the report. I think it’s actually worse than politely scathing. It’s embarrassing 👇🏼🪡🧵

And if anyone scrambles for compromise: a Judge sitting with Mags, a pilot, more data- then they are, in my view, wrong. The problems are multiple & terminal. It’s time for this Bill to die not a quiet death, but a public one - exposed for what it is and what it always was.

Twelfth, HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS. They have clocked that people already promised jury trials wouldn’t get them. And that’s not fair. It’s not on. And we shouldn’t do it. But (my comment) that would render the proposals toothless to fight the backlog. So why bother?

Ninth, the committee diplomatically point out that deciding which case is to be tried where will take ages. And hardened criminals might get the benefit of a jury trial over people of good character and over children. Well done everyone! 👏

Fifth, they are not at all persuaded we should be mucking about with appeals right now. Appeals, which - they point out - comprise a small proportion of court work and have a high success rate.