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NLJ this week: Politics, football & the BBC

07 April 2023
Issue: 8020 / Categories: Legal News , Media , Procedure & practice , Immigration & asylum
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Talk about an own goal—the BBC’s grounding of Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker over his tweets put the institution’s own impartiality under the spotlight.

Lineker’s resoluteness under pressure captured the public imagination and cast an unflattering light on the senior management of the BBC. In this week’s NLJ, John Gould, senior partner at Russell-Cooke, looks in depth at the issues involved, in particular the BBC’s duties of impartiality. How is it defined? What does it mean? What core values are involved? Is ‘impartiality’ the right conceptual approach anyway?

Gould writes: ‘As far as I know, Lineker has not yet been asked to anchor Newsnight, and it seems to follow that Lineker’s work only requires him to maintain impartiality in relation to football. There seems to be no problem with current affairs journalists being partial about sport.’ 

Read more on the headline case here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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