Mermaids vs LGB Alliance and Charity Commissioner - First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) Thread 3

[nauticant]

The Tribunal started on 9 September, witness testimony started on 12 September.

To obtain access to view the proceedings, send a request email to [email protected] about case CA/2021/0013 - Mermaids vs Charity Commissioner and LGB Alliance and ask for permission to join. You then have to provide certain information and agree to a judge's direction in order to be able to join.

There is also live tweeting from twitter.com/tribunaltweets.

Abbreviations:

J or judge: Presiding Judge, Judge Lynn Griffin
AJ or Judge: Assisted by Judge Joe Neville
MG: Mermaids counsel is Michael Gibbon KC
KM: LGB Alliance counsel is Karon Monaghan KC
AR: Karon is assisted by Akua Reindorf
IS: Charity Commission counsel is Iain Steele

(Also the witnesses, PR: Paul Roberts, JN: John Nicolson. BB: Belinda Bell, BJ: Beverley Jackson, KH: Kate Harris, and EG: Eileen Gallagher.)

Thread 1: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4629679-mermaids-versus-lgb-alliance-in-court-today
Thread 2: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4632780-mermaids-vs-lgb-alliance-and-charity-commissioner-first-tier-tribunal-general-regulatory-chameber-thread-2
Thread 3: ongoing

Witnesses for the applicant (Mermaids):

Paul Roberts - CEO of LGBT Consortium (12 September)
John Nicolson MP - Deputy Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights (13 September)
Dr Belinda Bell - Chair of trustees of Mermaids (13 September)

Witnesses for the respondent (LGB Alliance):

Beverley Jackson - Co-founder and trustee of LGB Alliance (13-14 September)
Kate Harris - Co-founder and trustee of LGB Alliance (14-15 September)
Eileen Gallagher OBE - Chair of trustees of LGB Alliance (15 September)

Witness Statements:

Paul Roberts: lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Paul-Roberts-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf
John Nicolson MP - lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/John-Nicolson-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf
Dr Belinda Bell: lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Belinda-Bell-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf
Beverley Jackson: lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Bev-Jackson-Witness-Statement-Exhibits-1.pdf
Kate Harris: lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Kate-Harris-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf
Eileen Gallagher (two statements): lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Eileen-Gallagher-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Eileen-Gallagher-Second-Witness-Statement-Exhibits.pdf

Submissions:

lgballiance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Volume-4-Submissions-CA.2021.0013.pdf

(Header format follows the gold standard established by @ickky)

post updated by MNHQ at OP's request

Absolutely @ChazsBrilliantAttitude - that's exactly what it's like.

For me, it always comes down to school bully mentality and them not realising/caring that their behaviour has real life, grown-up consequences.
Look at Harrop basically throwing his career down the toilet because he's a complete c and misogynist. Cheered on by rabid, anonymous TRAs who have nothing to lose.

I wonder if SG will come out as non binary at some point...

Ooh, plot twist! Looks like Good Law, Mermaids and possibly the walloper have been doing unwise SM posts.

I see The Bad Law Project have struck again.

Ah, already covered in the thread!

KM: Mermaids posted this on their site too. Between GLP and MM thousands of views.

Just before lunch there were over 220 watching. Looks like there are even more this afternoon. Lots of interest in this case.

Good governance is key. When a charity is well run, it looks easy and is almost invisible, but poor governance will always show up one way or another, sometimes when you least expect it, and, nowadays, quite often on social media.

MM contacted the court to ask them to considered new tweets Apparently made by J Bindle.

MG is saying it's important for everyone in the room to do as Mermaids' legal team has done and to insulate themselves from noise.

People suggesting on Twitter this is self-sabotage - have the case thrown out and claim LGBA won on a technicality.

Could the posting be a deliberate move by GLP because they realised just what a bad case they had/what a bad job they were doing and wanted the case thrown out for technical reasons instead of losing on substance???

Or am I being too tin-foil-hat here?

MG is earning his money here. He's using the death of the Queen is part of an explanation!

The Queen's fault!!

MG: video was made a week ago. It's the fault of the queen dying that made the timing happen like this for releasing it.

Would the case be thrown out, though? Presumably rules about prejudice don't apply in a case heard only by judges. So it might just be to do with the inappropriateness of social media posting? Perhaps a lawyer could advise.

Judge is moving things on. She's sounding irritated at this having been drawn to her attention.

Judge to MG: Perhaps you could remind your clients about what is appropriate.

Death of the Queen blamed for delayed posting of SG video. Bloody hell.

Kate Harris has been called.

Don't think Mermaids and the GLP have covered themselves in glory here.

I genuinely wondered (for a sec.) why someone had posted a picture of Debbie Hayton.

Apologies to Debbie

Who is MM please?

On Twitter: did the Corgis eat the Cass Report too?!

Mermaids, @WildIris