A lawyer has clinically dismantled Iain Duncan Smith in a stream of savage tweets over the “litany of stupid” the Leave campaigner has expressed in a newspaper column.
The Tory MP launched a scathing attack on the Supreme Court process and its judges, who are this week considering whether the Government needs Parliament’s permission to trigger Article 50.
In a column published in the Daily Mail on Wednesday, Duncan Smith takes aim at the boring proceedings, the 11 justices hearing the matter, and even the creation of the Supreme Court.
And while the former Tory leader mocks - rather ironically - the “self-styled legal commentators” who “pontificate on the proceedings”, a junior barrister has pointed out everything that’s wrong with Duncan Smith’s opinion piece.
There’s quite a lot:
1. ‘Litany of stupid’
2. It’s not meant to be a circus
3. You just don’t get it
4. Wrong. Again.
5. Listening helps
6. There’s legitimate anger
7. Just, no...
8. Let’s be grateful for IDS
9. No evidence.
10. Everything’s the fault of the Human Rights Act, obviously.
11. Isn’t parliamentary sovereignty a good thing?
12. No.
13. Is it really necessary to know a judge’s sexuality?
14. Attack on independence.
15. Go read a book.
16. Uh?
17. How can you in any way help?
Many people appreciated the Secret Barrister’s lesson in law and British history with some pointing out that the lawyer’s schooling had highlighted just how little some elected officials actually understood democracy.
The Secret Barrister’s comments were echoed by others in the legal profession, with some calling Duncan Smith “dishonest” and others calling the article “spin”.
The Secret Barrister, who also writes a regular column for Solicitors Journal, describes themself as is a junior barrister specialising in criminal law:
By writing anonymously, I hope to spray a few shafts of sunlight onto what is to most an alien and impenetrable world, publicly reflected only in selective media reportage and artistically-licensed tv dramatisation.
The Supreme Court is due to announce next month its decision whether May’s government requires MPs’ permission to trigger the Government Article 50.