Silky

It's not entirely clear why the DCMS lighted upon David Perry QC to conducted the review of tv licence enforcement.  He's clearly a legal polymath, with expertise in all sorts of bad behaviour, and a record of advising governments on tricky issues - but there's little "meedja" stuff in his cv.

He's most recently been working in Hong Kong, as chief prosecutor in their biggest-ever corruption case. Indeed, he seems a go-to-guy for the Hong Kong Authorities - past cases include the re-trial of Nancy Kissel, the Milkshake Murderess, in 2010, and the prosecution of self-syled feng shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen in 2011 for forging the will of former lover Nina Wang, dubbed Asia's richest woman.

He's worked as Standing Counsel to the DTI, then as Treasury Counsel, before taking silk in 2006, and now is joint head of chambers at 6 King’s Bench Walk, Temple.

He led the prosecution of Mulcaire and Goodman for hacking phones in the employ of the News of The World. Pre-trial, the worry was that members of the Royal Family might be called to court; that was avoided as the defendants pleaded guilty. In the Leveson Inquiry, polite enquiries were made to Perry about his understanding of the scale of the interceptions, and the possible involvement of others.

In 1999, Perry prosecuted Jonathan Aitken for perjury. In 2007, Perry's advice to was critical in the decision that there shouldn't be legal proceedings in the so-called "cash for honours" allegations against the Labour Party. He's recently been helping the Home Office with a review of extradition law.