CALLED TO ORDURE
COMMITTEE witnesses usually exude a wariness, supplicants before the majesty of parliament. Not so Lady Carr, head of the judiciary in England and Wales. Appearing before the Commons justice committee, she could have been an Edwardian beak presiding over some provincial assizes ceremony.
The 61-year-old cast a shrivelling eye over nine MPs in front of her. An untutored observer might have supposed she was interrogating them rather than vice-versa.
The committee’s (nominal) chair, Andy Slaughter, began by inviting his team to declare any financial interests. Normally one expects maybe a couple of members to cough up professional links. But this was the justice committee. Every single one of them blurted out a declaration.