Members of the Supreme Court have had something of a wary relationship with ministers in recent years. Since the landmark Gina Miller verdict in January 2017 and then the unanimous prorogation case in September 2019, there have been various Tory rumblings in Westminster about moves to abolish, reform or simply rename the highest court in the land.
Amid fears of an increasingly ‘activist’ court and accusations of bias, senior judges have been understandably jumpy about their future with current Supreme Court president Lord Reed claiming in March that any renaming would be ‘idiotic’ and ‘an act of national self-harm.’
So it was in this context that Mr S was surprised to read some of the expense claims being made by the members of the court who earn £226k a year. One in particular stood out to Steerpike: Supreme Court justice Lord Lloyd-Jones’s bill for taxis to and from the Buckingham Palace garden party in June 2018. According to a Freedom of Information request made by The Spectator, he claimed £55.80 for the 0.7 mile journey from the court to the palace and then £48 for the return – the equivalent of £103.80 for 1.4 miles.
Steerpike thought he would give the journey a go himself on Friday, jumping into several taxis to whizz down Birdcage Walk past St James’s Park. The cost of an Uber came to merely £7.02 for the leg there while a black cab return was just £5.80 – a total sum of £12.82 or less than one eighth of Lord Lloyd-Jones’ journey.
Lloyd-Jones again claimed £59.30 to travel to the palace from the court in May 2019 – the last summer Buckingham Palace garden parties were held before the pandemic. Equivalent fees were racked up by other, now retired, colleagues of Lord Lloyd-Jones in recent years: Lord Sumption charged £48 for one leg of the journey in May 2017 while Lord Carnwath similarly billed £48 for the 2.3 mile trip from Kensington gardens to Buckingham Palace in June 2018.
Similar length trips include Lord Neuberger, former president of the court, who claimed £113 for the 2.3 mile trip to and from Mansion House for the Mayor of the City of London’s annual judges’ dinner in July 2017 and his successor Baroness Hale billing £48 to travel 2.1 miles to Gray’s Inn and then £103.20 for the return in February 2018. Records also show Hale in November 2019 claiming £58.70 for the 0.6 mile journey to Thames House Millbank – the home of MI5 – and £51.50 to return. Hale’s replacement as president Lord Reed similarly claimed £51.50 in March 2020 to go from the court to Mansion House.
Steerpike understands that the reason for such largesse is that the current car service used to book taxis for justices has a minimum fee of £48 for its service. Asked for comment, a spokesman for the Supreme Court said: ‘The Court books car services for justices on official business of the Court.’
Not everyone was impressed by such an explanation. Joe Ventre of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told Mr S: ‘Taxpayers are bound to cast judgement on these ludicrous cab costs. Paying well over the odds for transport is particularly unjust when the costs will be borne by Britain’s hard-pressed households. The Supreme Court must do their utmost to crack down on these tactless travel expenses.’
Brings a whole new meaning to lawyers and the cab-rank rule.
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