We have a hearing in the High Court on 12 and 13 November. The EHRC has already substantially rolled back on where it was and, I think, is in some trouble. [It] has betrayed its responsibilities to safeguard minoritised groups, has massively overplayed its hand politically, has taken bad (or no) legal advice, and is getting seriously found out.

So said the never knowingly understated Jolyon Maugham KC, founder and executive director of the Good Lie Project, on social media on 20 October. But is it the EHRC, or the GLP, that’s in some trouble? And will it be the EHRC, or Jolyon and the GLP, that get seriously found out in the High Court later this week?

Well, as Jolyon himself used to believe, if the Supreme Court says it is the law, it is the law. And, having read Michael Foran’s two-part, forensic demolition of the GLP’s claim, I know what should happen. But I long ago learnt the hard way that predicting the outcome of High Court cases is a mug’s game. We’ve waited seven long months – since the Supreme Court ruling of 16 April – to get this far, and I for one am happy to wait a little bit longer. Delayed gratification, innit.

However, there are a few things we do know for certain. We know, for example, that Jolyon and the GLP have funded their legal challenge by grifting a stonking £475,256 from 11,529 members of the so-called trans community, and their allies (an average donation of £41.22). And that sum makes the crowdfunder the most lucrative of the 87 crowdfunders launched by the GLP since March 2017.

We also know that, should the High Court judge accept the EHRC’s invitation, set out in their detailed grounds of defence, to “refuse permission or dismiss the claim, with costs”, Jolyon and the GLP will face a hefty bill for the legal costs of not just the EHRC, but also those of both the Minister for Women & Equalities and the Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, who are parties to the case.

According to their response to my Freedom of Information request, by the end of September the EHRC alone had racked up costs of more than £122,000, but of course to that sum must be added the costs associated with counsel’s preparation for and attendance at this week’s High Court hearing. Add in the legal costs of Bridget the Moral Midget and the DWP, and the total bill might well top £200,000.

And, if nothing else, we know that, whatever the outcome of this week’s High Court hearing, there will be more fun to come. Jolyon is just one of five biological men who, since April, have grifted a total of almost £723,000 in support of legal challenges intended to undo the Supreme Court ruling won by the indefatigable women of For Women Scotland. And in recent weeks Jolyon and the GLP have launched or threatened new legal challenges against the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Virgin Active and the Football Association.

So we can be sure that, eventually, someone is going to be seriously found out.

Update, 13 November: The two-day hearing concluded with the judge reserving judgment to a later date. Tribunal Tweets were refused permission to live-tweet the hearing (after the GLP opposed their application to do so), but have published their notes along with relevant documents. Also, Sex Matters have bought and published the official transcript of Day One (12 November), during which Daniel Stilitz KC and Alex Goodman KC presented the GLP’s claim. But, especially if you’re not into masochism, this thread on X by Gethin Chamberlain tells you all you really need to know about Day One.

If the most amusing part of Day Two was the mature transwoman who sat in the press box at the front of the court in order to roll his eyes and pull faces at Tom Cross KC as the latter presented the EHRC’s defence, the most perplexing – and worrying – part was Bridget the Moral Midget‘s counsel, Zoe Leventhal KC, going out to bat for the GLP. On that, see this thread on X by Maya Forstater of Sex Matters, and this blog by the Legal Feminist team.

The irony of Bridget the Moral Midget going out to bat for Jolyon in the High Court this week is that, originally, the GLP’s crowdfunded legal challenge was going to be against her, not the EHRC. The GLP did not announce that their legal challenge was in fact going to be against the EHRC, not the Minister, until 16 May. And by that time the crowdfunder had raised £384,747 (81%) of the £476,057 donated to date. So, the great majority of that £476K was solicited on false pretences.