Closing argument: ex-legal chief Jonathan Jones on Brexit, Covid and leaving government Jonathan Jones’s three-decade civil service career came to an abrupt end in September when he quit over controversial elements of the internal market bill. The government’s former top lawyer tells Beckie Smith about his departure, cocktail recipes, and the legal side of the Covid crisis Sir Jonathan Jones, pictured for CSW in 2019. Photos: Paul Heartfield Sir Jonathan Jones chooses his words carefully. As a civil servant and a lawyer, you have to. But Jones is no longer a civil servant – and so he is finally free to say the things that many have undoubtedly been thinking over the last few months.