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21 October 2010 / Jennifer James
Issue: 7438 / Categories: Blogs
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The Great Escape

Jennifer James offers the PM some advice on how to survive a bout of unpopularity

The recent rescue of 33 men from the San Jose mine in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile was watched by 1 billion people. Few would have been unmoved by the sight of Fenix 2 bringing each survivor to the surface, after a claustrophobic 20-minute ride in a steel coffin, standing on an escape hatch above a sheer 2,000-foot drop. You would have to be made of stone not to find the story incredibly poignant and uplifting, a real triumph of the human spirit over terrible odds.

And yet the Insider had to admit, along with an awful lot of internet chatterers, that the men all came out looking remarkably chipper. Sleek if not exactly plump after 69 days of starvation diet rations to ensure each would fit into the rescue capsule, yet looking, in the words of Salon Selectives, like they just stepped out of the salon.

Even the BBC correspondent at Camp Hope seemed a tad nonplussed by just how well the men looked, volunteering somewhat lamely that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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