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The economy must be a priority

Posted by Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, at 10:24, Tue 12 October 2010:

I featured in a court case last week although I wasn’t actually summoned to appear before the beak. I think his decision was even worse than that made by the X factor judge Cheryl Cole when she voted against Gamu in favour of Katie and Cher, however I don’t think it will cause the same public uproar. By the way I haven’t a clue who any of these people are but the decision seemed to exercise the minds of a great number of Sun readers. Equally his comments have not caused me to lose any sleep, though the judgement and the whole case should be of concern to anyone interested in making our economy work better.

The background was a decision which I made when I was Environment Minister, to ask planners to give greater weight to economic factors when looking at planning applications. This was in response to calls from a whole range of groups involved in business who said that vital opportunities to create jobs were being lost because the planning system was far too sympathetic to environmental objections. They had given me numerous and often very funny examples of bizarre planning decisions which had held up investment. The best was the case of the twenty newts which stopped a multi million pound development because the NIEA would not allow them to be relocated in the Irish Republic. You couldn’t make some of this stuff up.

Anyhow I made a statement instructing planning officers to use the powers which existed within current policies, to give greater weight to economic factors when looking at applications. It was not welcomed by the green lobby for obvious reasons but the last people I expected to challenge it were powerful interests in the business community. Yet that is how it finished up in court. The first time that vested business interests saw a planning direction possibly working against them they were into court like a shot for a judicial review looking for every angle to justify their action. They argued and the judge agreed that the statement on giving weight to economic considerations was unlawful because it had not been properly consulted on. Even if that were the case which I contend is incorrect, it is easily remedied by having four week consultation and then proceeding with the change.

The bewildering aspect of this is that the judge appears not to have read or not to have understood the plain unambiguous English of the statement I made before reaching his judgement. If he had he would have realised that consultation was not necessary since this was not a policy change.

Anyhow getting a judgement against you is not the end of the world. I have a fairly jaundiced view of the legal profession. I think it is founded on the fond memories I have of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas I was exposed to at school. Gilbert was a barrister and wrote many operas about the courts and the law. My favourite was about a judge hearing a case about a breach of promise of marriage. He is painted as a buffoon who only got his job by marrying the ugly daughter of a rich attorney who he promptly divorced. My favourite chorus goes like this

“Though all my law be fudge

I will never, never budge

But I’ll live and die a judge

And a good judge too”

Don’t forget judges are only human and often get things wrong. That is why so many cases get overturned on appeal. Many court decisions are devoid of common sense and contemptuous of the views of the general public. We must not forget that judges bring their own prejudices into court. No wonder the general public get so outraged at some of the mad decisions made by liberal left leaning judges who have allowed an illegal immigrant to stay in the UK because he had a cat and sending him home would breach his human rights by interfering with his family life. Or the judge who lifted the curfew on two alleged drug dealers because it stopped them going fishing or the case of the transsexual who escaped jail even though he had downloaded pictures of children being sexually abused because prison would be “too tough” for ‘her’, - I could go on but it would be bad for my blood pressure. Many of our judges have graduated from being barristers and have lived all their lives in the nit picking, out of touch, cosseted world of the legal system. They reflect all the failings, prejudices and inadequacies found in every other profession and walk of life and their judgements must be viewed in this context. I haven’t even mentioned their unusual dress habits or the long holidays which would make teachers envious !!!

What does concern me about the increasing use of the courts for judicial reviews of` planning applications, procurement outcomes and policy decisions however, is that the business community who know the consequences of running to court are contributing to the gumming up of our economy for narrow self interest. Secondly I do have concerns about the readiness of the judicial system to grant leave for judicial reviews even when it is apparent that the applications are more to do with competition issues than government failings. Thirdly I know the impact which all this has on the decision makers in government departments. They become more nervous, they make sure every box is checked and ticked, they become over cautious lest they finish up on the receiving end of a grilling in court, and as a result, they get accused of being unsympathetic to the private sector which needs quick decisions.

I can get over the personal aspect of the references to me in court, the process of job creation and economic development are the real victims.