My 9 yr old has just asked me, Are you older than chess?

Breathtaking evidence of industrial scale phone hacking by Murdoch’s News operations in UK going far beyond celebrities. Listen to alan rusbridger and me talk to Nick Davies on Media Confidential - the story Fleet Street is ignoring or considers too hot to handle!…

I'd given up on a prospect quite a while ago (years), should I change back?

Scott Darlington Richard Moorhead Paul Marshall I can understand why you feel like that. It does raise profound questions about how lawyers work since we have had a complete cross-section of solicitors and the Bar involved from the Great-and-the-Good down.

Richard Moorhead Paul Marshall Scott Darlington Yes. A lot of people have been suggesting, in effect, that the PO lawyers’ were rubbish—I think you’ve just retweeted someone saying that any randomer off the street could do better—but that only tells half the story. On paper who would be better qualified to advise them than BA?

If he’s not exposed as MI5 frankly I’m going to be disappointed

All done for the day at the #postofficeinquiry . A particularly uncomfortable one for solicitor Martin Smith.

All the best bits are here: lawgazette.co.uk/news/post-offi…

'You weren't on work experience' has to go down as one of my favourite lines so far from the #postofficeinquiry .

That and much more is in our live blog of this morning's events.

lawgazette.co.uk/news/post-offi…

Just ripped in to today’s events but some of it looks WILD

... disclosure obligations
SWW that's telling the judge what he can't do - what did he want the judge to do?
MS not sure
SWW did he want an adjournment or what?
MS I am afraid I can't remember. I just took notes
TM I'll try to assist you - a public interest immunity order was

Richard Moorhead Nick Wallis Jon Honeyball I think this was around the moment when JB said 'you weren't there (at CK) on work experience'...

I do believe that Post Office could have pulled in a selection of random passers by and got better lawyers and managers for their business. #PostOfficeInquiry

... with that?
MS on reflection I got this wrong
JB part of a culture of withholding information from applicants
MS not intentionally, no

JB goes to another email by Andy Parsons.
[This is pure cover-up stuff]

... lead.

JB takes him to another email written byMS in which he says 'I' a lot. He asks him what possible justification there could be for redacting those sentences.
MS has no answer
JB try
MS I was worried about things getting into the public domain
JB what's the problem with

MS says he didn't think the old H system could be investigated
SWW why not say that then - you say it can be investigated
MS counsel had advised that we shouldn't go looking before 2010

... it was done in a way which was not compliant. There were no formal instructions.
JB did you consider whether his WSs complied with legal requirements
MS no - I took the view we'd been asked to get a s9 statement and that's what we did. no more thought than that.

... sinister be happening?

JB moves to GJ and expert evidence
JB were you aware of the legal requirements with regard to the instruction of expert witnesses
MS no
JB is it unusual not to be aware of your duties as a prosecutor?
MS it is clear that when we instructed GJ

JB notes RW wanting no email traffic on this matter. proper?
MS if his concern was to avoid cascading emails around. yes.
JB the concern there is disclosure. Is that proper?
MS I took the view that was RW's domain and not my issue
JB why were you at the meeting?

This is the response. Point 3 will resonate with many SPMs

JB takes MS to a well-written email by Jarnail Singh
JB do you think this was written by JS
MS no
JB did CK draft emails sent by JS?
MS JS sometimes cut and pasted emails into his emails or wrote emails following conversations with me
JB in the light of the contents of this...