Extraordinary news, this: the Attorney has injuncted the BBC from showing a report about cash-for-honours.
Presumably it’s to prevent what he thinks would be contempt of court – a publication that would seriously risk substantial prejudice (I’m away from law books today, and quoting the test in the Contempt of Court Act from memory, so by all means correct me) to criminal proceedings. Fair enough.
It’s political dynamite, this, though: the Attorney is now linked to cash-for-honours, something he must have hoped would never happen; and what he’s done can so easily be portrayed and http://www.raybani.com/ perceived as aiding a huge “cover up”. Plus, in spite of his office’s insistence he’s acting independently of government, many people will be cynical about that in the extreme. For defenders of his role, like me, this is the nightmare scenario – unless in time everything about this application is made public and this decision is seen to have been right, the incident will end up as the key justification for abolition of the Attorney’s role.
Goldsmith must know what a huge risk he’s taking.
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