‘Give MPs power to vet choice of judges’

ATTORNEY General Geoffrey Cox raised the prospect of MPs scrutinising judicial appointments yesterday amid Government anger over the Supreme Court ruling.

Mr Cox told the Commons that the country was ‘going to have to look again at our constitutional arrangements’ following the intervention.

Although he said he was personally ‘not enthusiastic’ about the idea, he said: ‘I agree that there may very well need to be parliamentary scrutiny of judicial appointments in some manner.’

The Mail understands that some senior Tories are lobbying No 10 to consider radical changes to how judges are selected in the wake of the court’s judgment that the prorogation of Parliament for five weeks was unlawful. Some have urged the introduction of a US-style political appointment system. Asked about this, Mr Johnson suggested that the call was premature, saying on ITV’s Peston show it was ‘jumping a long way down the track’.

Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland, the Cabinet minister responsible for the courts and the judiciary, is understood to be against reform.

A political appointment system was also vehemently opposed by many MPs. Top Tory Tom Tugendhat said: ‘Our judges are famous for their impartial opinions. Turning judges from sages into vote-chasers would shred that tradition.’

Former Justice Secretary David Gauke also rejected the idea of parliamentary oversight of judicial appointments, calling it ‘reckless’.

Commons leader Jacob ReesMogg said on Tuesday night that the court’s decision amounted to a ‘constitutional coup’ and last night a Cabinet source said judges had ‘involved themselves in politics’.

‘A long way down the track’