The competition to refresh the London C panel is now open.

Members of the C panel will be expected to have at least 2 years’ experience in actual practice (from end of second 6 months’ pupillage for barristers or date of commencement of advocacy for solicitors).

Appointments will be for 5 years. Those appointed to the C panel will often provide (but not exclusively) the A and B panel members of the future and so should have the potential to join the A panel.

There are vacancies on the panel in all areas of public and private law. The Attorney General is particularly looking to deepen capacity in:

Application

For details about the eligibility requirements and the application process, read the Junior Counsel to the Crown The Attorney General’s London Panels Information for applicants 2017 (PDF, 79KB, 9 pages) .

To apply, you must first email PanelCounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk and register an interest. Please note that registering an interest does not commit you to making an application if you later decide not to do so.

Once you have registered, you will be given a link to access our online portal and download the application pack.

Completed applications must be submitted by midday on Tuesday 31 October 2017.

Further information and mentoring

If you have any queries, contact the Government Legal Department Panel Counsel team via email panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk or on 020 7210 1506.

We encourage applications from a wide range of those eligible to apply. Therefore we will put advocates who want to discuss the application process for the C Panel in touch with an established Panel member as a mentor. The mentor will discuss the application process, the eligibility criteria and the presentation of relevant information on the application form either by telephone or in person.

If you are considering applying and want a mentor, please contact the Government Legal Department Panel Counsel team, via email anna.rickard@governmentlegal.gov.uk before 5pm on 6 October 2017.

Thank you Michel.

I’m pleased to be back in Brussels with you for the fourth round of negotiations.

We expect this to be a busy week. One that will set us on the important path towards our future partnership. The Prime Minister’s speech on Friday set out clearly the leadership and flexibility needed to make a success of these negotiations.

This round, for me, will be about building on the technical work done in previous rounds and the concrete proposals provided by the speech in Florence. It will be now for our teams to work through those details this week.

On Citizens’ Rights we will incorporate the agreement fully into UK law and take steps to ensure consistent interpretation. We hope to make progress on issues like the onward movement of UK citizens in the EU, and voting rights in local elections. We both want to avoid changes to the way citizens enjoy their rights and our proposals will deliver that.

On Northern Ireland and Ireland we made good progress at the last round, as you said, with a common desire to maintain the Common Travel Area and protect the Good Friday Agreement. This week will now be about crunching through the technical detail of how we, together, make that happen.

On the financial settlement, as part of a smooth and orderly exit, we do not want our EU partners to worry that they will need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave. The UK will honour commitments we have made during the period of our membership.

But it’s obvious that reaching a conclusion on this issue can only be done in the context of and in accordance with our new deep and special partnership with the EU.

So the UK is absolutely committed to work through the detail.

We are laying out concrete proposals and there are no excuses for standing in the way of progress.

It will take pragmatism on both sides to make headway, and I hope we can achieve that this week.

Thank you.

The Prime Minister welcomed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to Downing Street today to discuss the importance of devolved Government being restored to Northern Ireland as soon as possible and the UK Government’s steadfast commitment to the Belfast Agreement and its successors.

Both leaders recognised the progress made by the parties in Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister welcomed the efforts and support of the Irish Government on achieving a successful outcome. There was also a shared acknowledgement of the outstanding issues that remained for the parties and the need for their continued work towards an agreement to ensure Northern Ireland has the political stability it needs.

The Prime Minister made clear how the UK will be the strongest friend and partner to the EU after we leave the EU and how maintaining the reciprocal arrangements for the Common Travel Area and the citizenship rights guaranteed by the Belfast Agreement were at heart of our approach.

On the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, the Prime Minister reaffirmed that we will not accept any physical infrastructure at the border and how we are working on delivering a practical solution that allows for the most seamless possible movement of goods between the UK and EU.

The Prime Minister thanked the Taoiseach for his welcome of her Florence speech and they discussed the period of implementation which would enable people and businesses – both in the UK and in the EU – to adjust to the new arrangements in a smooth and orderly way.

They also spoke about the ongoing trade dispute between Boeing and Bombardier and their shared concern about the impact this could have on jobs and livelihoods in Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister recognised the Irish Government’s support on resolving this important issue.

The Prime Minister said how she looked forward to continuing the special ties and close cooperation between the two countries and she also gave her strong support for Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid and the benefits this would bring to the sport and to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Security Minister has today given a direction to Ofcom to ensure our security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other emergency services have access to the information they need to keep the public safe.

The direction, made under section 5 of the Communications Act 2003, requires that commercial multi-user gateways may only be licensed where the supplier can demonstrate that callers can be identified.

Commercial multi-user gateways use SIM cards to allow calls made through them to be routed through different operators. Calls made using these devices from fixed lines to mobiles are treated by the recipient’s network as if they were made by a mobile phone, rather than a fixed line.

The move comes after Ofcom announced in July that, following a public consultation, it had concluded that it was required to exempt the devices from current licensing requirements under section 8(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006.

Ofcom set out that the legislation prevented them from being able to take into account national security concerns.

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ministers can give a direction about communications networks on national security grounds.

The Security Minister’s direction ensures any new regulations enabling the use of such devices will continue to protect national security.

This means that law enforcement, the security and intelligence agencies and emergency services can maintain vital capabilities to investigate suspected terrorists and criminals.

Signing the direction to Ofcom (PDF, 180KB, 1 page) , Security Minister Ben Wallace said:

The first duty of Government is to protect the public.

This direction is necessary to ensure that those charged with keeping families and communities safe have access to relevant and accurate information when they need it and when they have the appropriate authorisations in order to do their job.

The Home Office set out concerns that the use of these devices could endanger life in its response to Ofcom’s consultation.

The direction does not seek to ban the use of the technology but ensures that when operated, it will not affect the ability of the security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other emergency services to investigate terrorism and serious crime, as well as to identify and locate people at risk of harm.

London-based biopharmaceutical company Autolus is undertaking a novel cancer trial targeting T-cells.

Using CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy, this ‘living medicine’ involves genetically engineering a patient’s own immune cells to improve their cancer-fighting properties and then reinfusing these cells back into their bloodstream.

It could offer new hope to people with multiple myeloma, which is the second most common blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is characterised by malignant plasma cells that accumulate in the patient’s bone marrow and produce abnormal proteins which can cause kidney problems, impairment of the immune system and further tumours to spread. There is currently no cure.

How it works

The study – which Autolus is calling APRIL – is for its AUTO2 product.

AUTO2 works by using a natural protein called APRIL ligand to target and bind with 2 cell receptors: B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI).

Autolus believes that by adding APRIL ligand as a surface protein to the patients T cells it could improve the ability of the body’s own immune system to detect and kill cancer cells. This simultaneous dual-targeting could also minimise the risk of the cancer cells escaping capture and so avoid the patient’s disease from relapsing.

In the trial, patients with multiple myeloma will receive increasing doses of AUTO2. This will help to establish a recommended dose. It will then assess the safety, tolerability and clinical activity at this dose.

Testing at Autolus’ laboratory.

Minimise the risk of the cancer cells escaping treatment

Dr Christian Itin, Autolus’ CEO said:

Breaking the defence mechanisms of cancers against T-cells is key to unlocking the curative potential of CAR-T cell therapies. AUTO2 is a first example of Autolus’ approach to specifically re-programme the patient’s own T-cells to minimise the risk of the cancer cells escaping treatment.

With the start of this study we have transitioned to a clinical stage company; an important step on our path to build a fully integrated autologous CAR-T cell company with a portfolio of differentiated therapies for the treatment of patients with cancer.

Supporting the development of CAR-T therapy

An Innovate UK grant partially funded some of the early work on AUTO2. Autolus was granted just over £1.48 million to test the effectiveness of patients T-cells to target multiple myeloma cells when re-engineered with the ligand that binds to BCMA and TACI. Evidence gathered here has directly contributed to progress the development of this product to clinical trials.

Autolus has also been awarded Innovate UK funding in an additional 2 projects. In the first, the company will receive up to £1.15 million to address the particular problem of CAR T-cells attacking T-cell lymphomas. The second will look to establish a scalable, commercially-viable manufacturing process for CAR-T therapies, with grant costs of up to £744,565.

Spun out of University College London in 2014, Autolus has gone on to receive funding worth £70 million from investment groups, Arix, Syncona and Woodford Patient Capital Trust.

The company was recently highlighted as a ‘one-to-watch’ – an ambitious business that we have supported whose achievements promise to change the world – as part of our 10th anniversary celebrations.

The next steps

As well as progressingAUTO2, Autolus has a pipeline of products in development for haematological malignances and solid tumours, for which it has recently progressed another product – AUTO3 – into the clinic. This study involves 2 separate groups: children with leukemia and adults with lymphoma.

These 3 clinical trials will involve around 250 patients in hospitals across the UK. It is expected they will be completed by late 2021.