Legal Games with Labour, but a pointer nonetheless

As always, lawyers love their legal games and in their own minds raise these to the level that they are critical to the world. Lawyers, loving law and themselves in equal measure, are unremitting on this matter.


There is a classic case in point on this at work today. Keir Starmer, the much decorated champagne socialist who is somehow Jeremy's Corbyn's Shadow Brexit Secretary, despite being one the leading remainiacs in the Country, is busy at work.


He has decided it is a matter of national importance that the Government show their full legal advice around May's Brexit deal. He hopes of course (though no doubt he has seen it through internal leaks already), that it will hole the deal more firmly below the waterline. Of course, he argues in flamboyant leqalese about quite how important this, his ever eager and frankly very stupid deputy, Barry Gardiner has weighed in to say this in fact is a constitutional crisis in more simplistic terms.


Of couse, Government's do not either routinely or ever publish their legal advice. This is a concept known as legal privilege which is at the core of our legal system. It is to protect both clients and lawyers from having private paid for advice splashed all over the papers. As a case in point, the legal advice for the Gulf War - so contentious in Parliament and subject to a vote - was never published, not even a summary. Read here in the Spectator from a year or two later, how the lawyers loved this game of bigging-up their own importance when, as ever, they had made no difference in the real world.


So today the confected outrage is being created to no end. Even if the Government release the advice (which, being legal advice will be a lot of on the one hand this on the other hand that...lawyers not the most decisive of creatures in general), it wont change a single vote in Parliament which is focused on a greater game. Probably quite good politics though to continue the current malaise of May.


The big news for me is it looks like the Remainiacs have got at Corbyn who is going to go with a second referendum - leaving the EU is going to take a back seat for the Corybnista's to seizing power and they can smell all those lovely, angry remain voters willing to come home. Again, those in the Tory ERG should think hard about their numbers in Parliament when Labour are moving so firmly against Brexit. 30 vs 625 - terrible optics for them.