List members who have an interest in the law of contract, and particularly contract interpretation, will find much food for thought in Lord Sumption’s Harris Society Annual Lecture, “A Question of Taste: The Supreme Court and the Interpretation of Contracts”, delivered at Keble College, Oxford, last Monday (available at https://www.supremecourt.uk/news/speeches.html). The lecture is entertaining and provocative  but, unfortunately, it contains many grievous errors. Not only does it distort Lord Hoffmann's approach to interpretation and implication of terms, but it misrepresents the facts and reasoning in the leading cases of Chartbrook and Rainy Sky. And, oh yes, some of the things his Lordship says are inconsistent with what he was party to in the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Wood v Capita. There is much more to be said but, in the meantime, as Jason would say, happy reading!

David McLauchlan