You CAN criticise judges… especially if their wives want them to halt Brexit
Lord Neuberger says media criticism of his Brexit ruling is 'undermining the rule of law' but this is a world where not the Prime Minister, not The Queen, nor even his wife Lady Neuberger, can be exempt from attack
AS President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger is a clever and important man. So when he says media criticism of his Brexit ruling is “undermining the rule of law” we should take note.
And having taken note we should then dump it in the waste paper basket. It’s absolute cobblers.
Especially Lady Neuberger. Let me remind you what she tweeted under her maiden name, Angela Holdsworth.
She denounced the referendum as “mad and bad”. She clearly didn’t want ordinary people for the first time in my lifetime to have a say in our future. Not bright enough, don’t you know. Bright enough to go in under a referendum 42 years ago but not bright enough to come out, eh?
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She dismissed Ukip and Brexit as “just a protest vote” — some “protest” as you watch the whole of the EU fall apart.
She gave her old man a nudge when she retweeted a Remain group message, saying it seemed unlikely a Prime Minister could trigger Article 50 without Parliament’s approval.
Some seven months later Lord Neuberger duly obliged. Clearly his wife’s views were at best injudicious and at worst compromising. You have to wonder whether chatter over the Neuberger breakfast table would have an influence.
Having the missus nagging at him, and the papers describing him and his legal chums as “enemies of the people”, has clearly rattled Lord Neuberger.
She dismissed Ukip and Brexit as 'just a protest vote' — some 'protest' as you watch the whole of the EU fall apart
Kelvin on Lady Neuberger
The importance of the law must be matched by free speech and effectively he is asking to be given a free ride, no matter what daft judgments are handed down. That was the 1960s, old chum.
Perhaps he should concentrate on making it clearer how you get “promotion” to the Supreme Court. Right now, as long as you went to Oxford and didn’t put peas on the side of your knife, there was a sleight of hand which got you to the top.
Why don’t we adopt the American method and balance judges between Left and Right? That way all of us would know their views on abortion, the EU, immigration, etc.
At the moment the entire judiciary is made up of the Liberal consensus. Brexit and Trump have blown up that model.
At the very least, we want to know how judges are selected for the top jobs and why. A centre-Right character as President would be a nod to ordinary people that their views were being listened to.
Neuberger stands down soon. It can’t happen a moment too soon.
I’m here to weigh in
Jane, 59, said: “The year after I won was great. I was on the Hairy Bikers’ programme and it took me an hour to get round the supermarket because everyone wanted to tell me how good I looked.”
Sadly, she has since piled five stone back on. It still takes Jane, above, an hour to get round the supermarket but that’s because she is filling the trolley to the brim.
By the way, it’s not often in this game I receive praise from a victim of my rather acerbic view of life but step forward Scarlett Moffatt, below, the Gogglebox star and winner of the latest I’m A Celebrity.
In a magazine interview just out, she said: “I don’t agree with body shaming but what upset me more than anything was the fact he was right.”
So she set about losing the weight and look where is she today. Listen to Uncle Kelv and you will go far.
FUNNY MONEY
SAW comedian Rob Beckett, all teeth and no neck, the other night.
Very funny but I’m bored of the first half of all stand-up acts being dominated by picking out members of the audience to be the butt of their humour.
The comic cost base is non-existent – just a mic, not like singers and bands – so they can afford to hire more gag writers.
Beckett, pictured, trousered £15,000-plus for his 90 minutes at the provincial theatre where I sat.
That can buy a lot of one-liners.
Costly cover is driving me mad
THE charlatans at Saga are at it again. For 22 years without a claim, the elderly parents of column reader Paul Spracklen had relied on them for car insurance. How did Saga repay their loyalty?
They ramped up the renewal price to £1,135.
Paul, from Wantage, Oxon, was horrified, got online and found the same policy with Aviva for £511, saving £624.
Rias aren’t much better.
For 20 years Graham Anderson drove a company car and when he retired gave his current home and contents people a chance to quote.
They wanted £2,108. He went on to my price comparison site – like GoCompare but it fights for you – and he got cover for £886, a saving of £1,222.
Do send your saving stories to kelvin@the-sun.co.uk.
Four to one - the odds of getting a drink at Cheltenham
In another risible idea, race fans will be offered free bottles of water as they leave the track. My experience of Cheltenham is they will be lucky to see the bottles, let alone drink them.
I am reminded of the old gag where a racegoer tells the barman: “15 bottles of wine please.” Barman: “Did you bring a container?” Racegoer: “You’re looking at it.”
THE PUNNIES
DRY cleaner’s in Sutton, Surrey – Cleaners A Whistle. Tiler in
Sunderland – Knight On The Tiles.
Outside the Artful Dodger bar in York – Beauty’s in the eyes of the beer holder.
Barber’s in Brighton – Clip Around The Ears.
Butcher’s in Deal, Kent – Meat’in Place.
Florist’s in Northampton – April Flowers.
Carpet fitter in Plymouth – On A Roll.
Pastry store in Great Malvern, Worcs – Josephine’s Little Tart Shop.
Punnies are a little thin today. I blame half-term. Do send more to kelvin@the-sun.co.uk.
Turbine Tory is all wind
WHERE do they dig up these politicians?
Take Neil Carmichael. Please. Although a Conservative MP, he is campaigning against Theresa May’s excellent plan to bring back more grammar schools.
In fact, his boy went to Marling School in Stroud, Gloucs, where Dad was chair of the governors. Let’s keep it in the family.
Mr Carmichael, above, is not unused to charges of hypocrisy. Seven years back he received the OK for a wind farm on land he owned at Bavington Hill Head in Northumberland.
However, in his constituency in Stroud he described as “monstrous” the suggestion there should be a single turbine on land in the area.
He even managed to upset the Campaign for Real Ale by telling them he would support an issue over non-tied pub leases, before voting against it the following day.
It makes you weep, doesn’t it. And it confirms that terrible belief that when you see politicians giving their views they are saying one thing and thinking and doing something else entirely.
