header-logo header-logo

03 June 2010 / Jennifer James
Issue: 7420 / Categories: Blogs
printer mail-detail

Double trouble?

Jennifer James considers the Cameron-Clegg alliance in the light of other famous double acts

The Insider has been following the progress of the coalition government with interest; I could be snide and say it’s like turning over a log in the garden and looking at all the invertebrate creatures scurrying away from the light but if they did not exactly win fair and square, they certainly did not suffer a resounding defeat as the Labour party did.

It was interesting last weekend to watch their first big test, the departure of the cabinet minister, David Laws, after the revelation that he had been claiming £950 per month on expenses to pay as rent to his same-sex partner. Apparent universal acceptance that this was a matter of privacy over Laws’ sexuality, rather than greed over the £950 per month, struck me as odd. After all, if you don’t want your colleagues and constituents to know you are gay, surely the simple answer is not to claim expenses to pay to your gentleman friend as rent, and then it’s

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
back-to-top-scroll