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29 July 2022 / Malcolm Bishop KC
Issue: 7989 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Scandal! The Christine Keeler-Jack Profumo affair

89128
Malcolm Bishop QC looks back at the moral mores of 1960s Britain & questions the fairness of the trial of Stephen Ward

Many argue that the Christine Keeler/Jack Profumo affair is the greatest scandal of the last century. In a nutshell, the plot consists of a young woman being introduced to the secretary of state for war at a swimming party at the home of an aristocrat by a society osteopath. The woman, Christine Keeler and the minister, Jack Profumo had a secret three-month affair, and Keeler also slept with a Russian spy.

The minister lied to the House of Commons about his liaison, was caught out and had to resign both from the government and from parliament. There was an inquiry presided over by Lord Denning. His report, written in his judicial style, (‘It was bluebell time in Kent’) became a bestseller. Keeler was found guilty of perjury and given nine months inside while the osteopath was tried at the Old Bailey with living off immoral earnings and

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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