Young at heart

Obiter was pleased to see that an old friend, Andrew, Lord Phillips of Sudbury to the rest of you, is among the Liberal Democrat peers willing to give the coalition a bloody nose over its legal aid reforms. The former Bates Wells & Braithwaite senior partner is certainly someone Obiter wants on-side in what passes for a ruck in The Other Place.

But it almost wasn’t so. In July 2006, despite being, at 67, a full year younger than the average Lords age, Phillips tried to ‘vacate’ his seat to make way for ‘younger blood’. He wasn’t allowed, though he was granted a ‘leave of absence’ that ended in 2009, since when he’s been attending and speaking regularly.