An article by @Dannythefink today, on the High Court’s finding that Michael Gove broke the law in awarding a contract to his associates in Public First, has some inaccuracies about facts & the judge's reasoning. A short thread in response. @GoodLawProject
The finding of “apparent bias” in awarding a contract to Gove’s & Cummings’ associates was not the judge “arguing that precious time should have been spent creating a paper trail”. It was that picking a company run by them without considering alternative providers breaks the law.
Danny also asserts that Dominic Cummings and those who ran Public First “had a political relationship”. But Dominic Cummings described them as his “friends” – not in passing or in a separate context, but in his witness statement to the Court.
Danny says that “normal procurement arrangements might have taken 4 weeks if conducted at a gallop. That was clearly impossible”. Except that the judge explicitly considered this argument. And rejected it.
Plus he does not address the fact that documents that emerged during the course of our legal challenge demonstrated that civil servants involved in procurement – who did not have a friendship with Public First – had concerns about awarding them a contract.
The key question that arises from this case is: How do we ensure public money isn’t channeled to friends of Ministers & their advisers if those allocating it don’t need to explain why they decide to do so? Respectfully, it is about much more than bureaucratic tidiness.
(ends)
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Today's screeching U-turn on allowing #Huawei access to our 5G architecture is an important moment for “Global Britain”, this Govt’s attempt to carve out a relationship with different parts of the world on terms independent of either Washington or Brussels. (Thread 1/7)
There are two clear reasons for the #Huawei U-turn. The first is US economic & political power. American sanctions on chip technology made our openness towards Huawei unsustainable given our political commitment to the US alliance & the reality of global supply chains. 2/7
The second reason for the #Huawei U-turn was Tory rebellion. 'Global Britain' involves a mixed position towards China: openness on economic issues, hawkishness on security issues. Neither Beijing nor Washington allows the world to be seen like this. Tory backbenchers agreed. 3/7
That sound you hear coming from Hyde Park in New York state is the sound of Franklin Delano Roosevelt turning in his grave, at the idea that Michael Gove & Dominic Cummings' reform of the civil service is inspired by FDR's "New Deal". Let's remind ourselves of what it did... 1/7
The 1st New Deal brought in unprecedented government regulation of American banks & the stock markets, to avoid a repeat of the Depression. This included clamping down on speculative activities in commercial banks (Glass-Steagall), & attacked corporate abuses rife on Wall St. 2/7
FDR's National Recovery Administration created corporatist collaboration between industry, unions & Govt to set minimum wages & maximum working hours, to set prices, & to write codes of fair competition. It led to a huge revival in the fortunes of American trade unions. 3/7
The gear-shift from "Everyone follow this clear instruction" to "Everyone make their own judgments based on these general principles" was always going to be necessary, and always difficult for Boris Johnson's Government. But 3 things have compounded the difficulty immensely (1/4)
1. The science isn't at the stage where distinctions between safe & unsafe social interactions are clear or publicly understood. We have low confidence about what behaviour is wise or reckless beyond our front doors. So unsurprisingly we feel uneasy accepting responsibility (2/4)
2. The number of cases & deaths, though increasing at a slowing rate, is still scarily high. We see China & Sth Korea grappling with localised 2nd spikes. It doesn't feel as though control has been restored. The responsibility gear-shift needs more control to come first. (3/4)
The #Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay just confirmed to me in his @LordsEUCom evidence that, under the Govt's proposals, Northern Irish businesses sending goods to Great Britain will have to complete export declaration forms.
This revelation confirms two things.
1. The GB-NI border inside the UK will, from a commercial point of view, feel like a real border.
2. The Govt is trying to push through a vote on the deal before the text of the Withdrawal Bill is seen for a reason: the contents are alarming
A reminder, given Ministers now concede Northern Irish firms will have to complete export declaration paperwork to trade inside their own country with Great Britain, what lengths Jacob Rees-Mogg went to in 2018 to prevent this outcome. Here’s his amendment that became law (S55).
Apologies for the spanner in the works, but a Brexit deal based on keeping just Northern Ireland in the EU customs union seems to directly run up counter the Government’s Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018.
As Jacob Rees-Mogg knows: because it was his amendment...
This clause (Section 55, or shall we call it the Rees-Mogg backstop) is legally based on the GATT definition of a "customs territory". It can't therefore be invalidated merely by the Govt deeming that under their Brexit Deal, Northern Ireland isn't really in the EU Customs Union.
Given the Rees-Mogg amendment, I'd be interested to know Government lawyers' thinking on whether the PM can go ahead & agree a Brexit Deal involving Nthn Ireland still in the EU Customs Union without a serious risk of injunction. Anyone know a lawyer who might give me their view?
What kind of PM will Boris Johnson turn out to be?
Forget about the question of what he will do, just for a minute: here are 5 predictions about what I think will be the style of his Premiership. 1/6
1. Expect bold populist announcements on smaller issues to pepper the front pages regularly. Both because PM Boris will think he can thereby connect with voters across partisan lines, & as a way of deflecting from ongoing crises (‘Flying flags in schools’, that kind of thing) 2/6
2. Expect disparate parts of his Party, Cabinet & Government to believe he has assured them of totally contradictory things. PM Boris will unite his party & country by supporting all sides in a disagreement. Which you can get away with for a long time, until you can’t anymore 3/6