OK, I suppose they’re not that rare – QCs who think they know it all, that is – but whenever they open their mouths you still have to wonder what planet they come from.
This letter in the Financial Times (you have to register, but it’s free) is from Julian Malins, QC (he’s signed it, so that’s why I’m mentioning him by name). It came through in the newsfeeds with the headline title “Driving test is too difficult so many do not bother at all”, so it naturally caught my attention.
It is all to do with a previous FT story about the declining numbers of young people taking the driving test, explained as being due to financial constraints and the like.
Our expert QC berates the FT for this. Apparently, it is obvious (to him, at any rate) that the only reason people don’t take the driving test as much is that it is too hard!
It would appear that his sole source of evidence is that the police once told him that as much as 10% of all drivers on the M25 at any time are unlicensed.
He should look outside of London, EC4 (he probably isn’t aware that people even live outside of EC4). In some places, notably in Yorkshire, as many as 90% of all drivers are uninsured or unlicensed in some areas, and I got that off the police in those cop shows on cable.
I’m not sure what our expert QC would suggest, though if you join the dots the obvious answer is that the test should be made easier or just abolished. Malins suggests that this is why magistrates courts are filled with these people.
You have to wonder how such naïveté could be found in someone who is actually capable of destroying someone’s life as a result of these totally inaccurate beliefs.