Welcome to the first monthly Good Grift Watch Update, promised when I launched Good Grift Watch on this blog earlier this month, and funded – in my dreams! – by my very own crowdfunder. This update covers 1-30 June 2023.

June 2023 in brief:

• Permission to appeal in the GLP’s River Wye case refused by the Supreme Court
• Two longstanding but moribund crowdfunders closed by the GLP, and the associated judicial review claims later abandoned
• Wardship application in the GLP’s Asylum seeking children case dismissed by the Family Court
• Two new, in-house crowdfunders launched by the GLP
• GLP’s crowdfunded income in June: £35,568
• GLP’s crowdfunded income in 2023/24 to date: £213,619

Chart of the month:

The GLP’s River Wye case

On 2 June, the Supreme Court refused permission to appeal in the GLP’s River Wye case, for which the GLP crowdfunded £53,195 plus £40,000 of match-funding from multi-millionaire Dale Vince. That represents a retained income of some £75,000 over and above the approximately £18,000 that the GLP originally said it would cost to apply to the Supreme Court for permission.

The GLP’s Unaccompanied asylum seeking children case

On 9 June, the Family Division of the High Court dismissed the wardship application made by Article 39 in the GLP’s Unaccompanied asylum seeking children case, for which the GLP has so far crowdfunded £36,298.

Closure of GLP crowdfunders & abandonment of judicial review claims

On 14 June, the GLP quietly closed two of their longstanding but moribund Crowdjustice crowdfunders: Bunzl Healthcare (launched in April 2021), and Immensa testing (October 2021). In July 2022, the GLP had successfully sought a costs capping order in Bunzl Healthcare, but they never updated the crowdfunder to inform potential new donors of this material fact – it was last updated in February 2022, when the Government was still “trying to price us out”.

On 29 June, the GLP announced that they have now abandoned the associated judicial review claims in Bunzl Healthcare and Immensa testing, as well as in two other long stalled cases: Hanbury and Pharmaceuticals Direct (crowdfunder launched in April 2021).

The Hanbury claim was linked to and had been stayed behind the GLP’s claim in the Public First case, for which the GLP crowdfunded £403,966 only for the Government’s appeal against a June 2021 ruling of the High Court to be allowed by the Court of Appeal in January 2022. The GLP had then sought to appeal to the Supreme Court, but permission was refused by the Supreme Court in December 2022. The GLP has now agreed to pay half (£60,000) of the Government’s legal costs in the Hanbury case.

In Pharmaceuticals Direct, the High Court refused the GLP permission in June 2021, after the GLP’s external solicitors (Bindmans LLP) bungled the lodging of the application; the GLP’s appeal against this refusal of permission was then dismissed by the Court of Appeal in March 2022. The GLP had been seeking to further appeal the refusal of permission in the Supreme Court, and a hearing had been scheduled for 12 October 2023.

New GLP crowdfunders

On 2 June, the GLP launched a new, in-house crowdfunder, with an initial target of £15,000, in support of legal action against the General Medical Council relating to alleged vaccine misinformation by doctors. However, donations have flatlined since 7 June.

On 6 June, the GLP launched a new, in-house crowdfunder, with an initial target of £50,000, in support of potential legal action against HMRC relating to the taxation of private equity fund managers. However, donations have flatlined since 8 June. One tax law expert has described the proposed legal action as “very strange” and “almost certainly doomed to fail”. 

Similarly, donations to an in-house crowdfunder launched on 30 April, in support of a potential legal challenge to the Voter ID provisions of the Election Act 2022, flatlined from mid-May until 23 June, when the GLP emailed supporters to seek donations on the back of an interim report, published earlier that day, by the Electoral Commission on the local elections held on 4 May. In late 2022, the GLP advised their supporters that “a legal challenge [to the Voter ID provisions] is likely to be difficult due to obstacles in obtaining sufficient evidence”. But they now say they are “bringing legal action on the issue”.

The GLP’s crowdfunded income in 2023/24

During the month of June, the GLP received donations totalling £35,568 via 11 crowdfunders. This compares with a monthly average of some £155K in 2021/22. The great majority (84%) of this £35,568 was donated via just three crowdfunders: Private Equity (£12,889), Surrey Hills (£10,919), and General Medical Council (£6,039).

In 2023/24 to date (i.e. in the five months since 1 February 2023), the GLP have received donations totalling £213,619 via 14 crowdfunders. This compares with a total of some £1.86 million in 2021/22, and some £661K in 2022/23. The great majority (80%) of this £213,619 was donated via five crowdfunders: Trans Healthcare Appeal (£51,410), Climate Change Protesters (£41,776), Asylum Seeking Children (£36,298), Voter ID (£22,244) and Sewage Dumping (£18,506).

As of 30 June, the GLP has 10 open crowdfunders (five on Crowdjustice, five in-house).

Upcoming events

There will be a High Court hearing in the GLP’s Sewage Dumping case on 5-6 July.

On 19 June, the GLP announced that (a) there will be a Court of Appeal hearing in their Trans Healthcare case “in July”; and (b) having met the original £50,000 crowdfunding target for the appeal (on 21 May), the GLP now need to raise a further £10,000 to cover their costs.

A ruling by the First-tier Tribunal in the GLP’s LGB Alliance case is still awaited, almost eight months after the Tribunal hearing concluded in early November. Allegations of safeguarding failures by the claimants in the case, trans lobby group Mermaids, continue to emerge, and Mermaids remain under investigation by the Charity Commission. [Update: on 30 June, Jolyon revealed that judgment in the LGB Alliance case will be handed down on 6 July.]

Judgment is also awaited in the GLP’s Surrey Hills case, which was heard by the High Court on 8 June, and in the GLP’s Manchester Ship Canal case, which was heard by the Supreme Court in early March.

Updated Table of Failure and Futility (TOFF)

This table shows the sum raised by and outcome to date of the GLP’s 59 crowdfunders since March 2017.