Editorial: An undemocratic plot stymied – a proud day for Scotland and her lawyers

Editorial: An undemocratic plot stymied – a proud day for Scotland and her lawyers

Graham Ogilvy

Today’s unprecedented ruling by the Supreme Court has provided welcome reassurance to those who feared for the very future of our parliamentary representative democracy.

It is, of course, an historic victory for Joanna Cherry QC and her legal team of Aidan O’Neill QC, David Welsh, Elaine Motion and her team at Balfour and Manson. 

Gina Millar, Jolyon Maugham QC and the Good Law Project also deserve congratulations and our heartfelt gratitude for their tireless efforts to defend our liberties.

The Supreme Court ruling, unanimously agreed by 11 justices, has powerfully vindicated the earlier ruling of Scotland’s judges who had to suffer the contumely of having their integrity impugned by unelected inhabitants of Number 10, Downing Street.

Scottish Legal News does not approve of the recent celebration of Lord Carloway, Lord Brodie and Lord Drummond Young on the front page of The Scotsman as ‘Heroes of the People’. It as facile as the Daily Mail’s vile demonisation of English High Court judges as ‘Enemies of the People’.

But it is beyond question that this is a proud day for the Scottish legal system, for Scotland and her lawyers. 

And to Sir James Eadie QC who, in his defence of the UK government, could not resist a rather condescending dismissal of the Scottish judges’ contention that his clients had prorogued Parliament in a bid to stymie it with a “whatever that might mean”. We say: now you know.

Graham Ogilvy

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