Spare a thought for Simon Whitehead of Dorsey & Whitney, the lawyer handling many of the group litigation orders against the government. Important hearings and decisions in various cases will mean that Simon will be spending both 31 January and 23 February at the European Court of Justice this year.

Unfortunately for him, these dates happen to be his birthday and wedding anniversary. ‘It’s the second birthday I’ve spent at the ECJ,’ Whitehead tells TS.

With dedication like that, Gordon Brown should have good reason to be worried about the GLOs’ outcomes.