here My work was going well, I knew I warranted stepping onto the lowest rung of the judicial ladder by being appointed an assistant Recorder.
However, I was summoned to see the then Lord Chancellor’s officials to be told that Lord Chancellor Baron Hailsham would never appoint me, a gay man, to sit as a judge at any level.
I left the meeting crestfallen, but I was cheered by the indication that although I was apparently unsuitable to sit as a judge I could still be considered for Silk.
After more years of endless paperwork, and trial upon trial as a junior barrister, I rather fancied the more measured life of a QC.