You don’t expect Guardian columnist George Monbiot to mince his words, and the meat of what he’s saying is delivered entirely uncut today, when he writes about Mr Justice Eady’s “reign of terror” and “a government of frightened little men”, particularly in the shape of Jack Straw, the Minister of Justice.

Although it may not come as news to us, the list of Eady’s, erm, achievements is quite astounding, and their ramifications even more so: US state after US state is now refusing to accept libel verdicts delivered in English courts, for example.

It will be interesting, to put it mildly, to see what happens when (rather than if) one of Eady’s judgements reaches the new Supreme Court (which has recently replaced what used to be known as “the Law Lords”). It’s obvious from the instances Monbiot lists that many judges senior to Eady are getting increasingly alarmed at his findings.