It's fair to criticise ‘activist' Hermer, says his lawyer friend
Ben Williams KC said Lord Hermer was an 'open activist' throughout his career, and claimed Sir Keir Starmer would have known this when he appointed him Attorney General.
He suggested this provided an insight into the Prime Minister's own views on how the law could be used to pursue a political agenda.
The suggestion comes despite Lord Hermer's claims that lawyers only take cases based on the 'cab rank' principle, which requires barristers to accept cases within their area of expertise, regardless of the client.
Mr Williams, who has presented cases with Lord Hermer, made his comments on Twitter in response to a video issued by Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, in which he attacked Lord Hermer for spending his career 'defending Britain's enemies' in court.
Credit: X/@RobertJenrick
Saying the Attorney General was unfit for the job because of his past legal activism, Mr Jenrick linked him to a range of controversial figures he has represented, including Gerry Adams, Shamima Begum, the Isis bride, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, described as Osama Bin Laden's 'right hand man'.
Mr Williams tweeted: 'As a lawyer [and] a friend of Rich Hermer, I find this unpleasant. But before the usual suspects erupt, it's also entirely fair political comment.
'RH was an open activist throughout his career, [and] Starmer knew this when he chose to knife his shadow AG [Emily Thornberry] to appoint RH instead.
'This is obviously revealing about Starmer's own position on using the law as a political instrument; [and] both he and Rich will have known perfectly well that the latter's long history of acting against the UK Government would be subject to legitimate political attack.
'On reflection, I should have said that I find it discomfiting. It is not unpleasant.'
Lord Hermer has come under increasing pressure over several controversial moves in Government, including a key role in Britain's surrender of the Chagos Islands.
He was also forced to apologise for a 'clumsy' remark that compared Conservative and Reform calls to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) with the early days of Nazi Germany.
Sir Keir has faced calls to sack his Attorney General, with Kemi Badenoch arguing that Lord Hermer 'believes in the rule of lawyers, not the rule of law'.
Lord Hermer and his allies have previously argued that he has only represented controversial figures as a result of the 'cab rank rule', an ethical principle that requires lawyers to accept instructions from clients, even if they disagree with the views or alleged crimes.
However, in a previous tweet, Mr Williams challenged the concept barristers are strictly forbidden in any case from refusing to represent a client on the grounds they found them objectionable.
Responding to a Twitter user making that argument, he said: 'This is at best unreal. You know perfectly well that the Bar is full of people who say 'I only defend', 'I won't represent alleged rapists', or 'I won't represent landlords'.
'As to the last, I went to a judicial valedictory last year where this specific position was openly celebrated. There are entire chambers that declare themselves 'radical'.
'The idea that one can't extrapolate revealed preferences from a career of acting only for a specific demographic is absurd.'
In his video, Mr Jenrick challenged Lord Hermer's cab rank defence, saying he 'would have been inundated with cases, able to choose the pick of the bunch'.
A Tory source said: 'Starmer and Hermer's mate, Philippe Sands, admitted he refused to represent Augusto Pinochet. The selective use of the cab rank rule is widespread amongst so-called human rights lawyers. Activist barristers now actively boast of their ideological purity.'
However, Lord Hermer has been defended by some Tory legal experts. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said Mr Jenrick's video was a 'disgraceful' attack on the UK's 'principles of justice and freedoms' which relied on a 'level playing field' for individuals' legal representation under the cab rank rule.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said: 'Law officers such as the Attorney General will naturally have an extensive legal background and may have previously been involved in a wide number of past cases. Barristers do not associate themselves with their clients' opinions.'
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ethiopia has finished building mega-dam on Nile, PM says
Ethiopia says it has completed building a mega-dam on the Blue Nile that has long been a source of tension with Egypt and Sudan. Launched in 2011 with a $4bn (£2.9bn) budget, the dam is Africa's biggest hydro-electric plant, and a major source of pride for Ethiopians. Ethiopia sees the dam as vital to meeting its energy needs but Egypt and Sudan see it as threatening their water supply from the Nile. In a statement announcing the completion of the project, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought to reassure his neighbours. "To our neighbours downstream - Egypt and Sudan - our message is clear: the Renaissance Dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity," he said. US President Donald Trump said in 2020 that Egypt had threatened to "blow up" the dam - officially known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd). In a conciliatory move, Abiy said that both Egypt and Sudan would be invited to its official inauguration in September. "We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water," he said. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Sudan's military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met earlier this week and "stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile Basin", AFP news agency reports. More than a mile long and 145m high, the dam is on the Blue Nile tributary in the northern Ethiopia highlands, from where 85% of the Nile's waters flow. Ethiopia wants the dam to produce desperately needed electricity, as the majority of its population - about 60% - have no supply. Egypt relies on the River Nile for nearly all of its fresh water, and fears that the flow of water could be disrupted. It has argued that just a 2% reduction in the amount of water it gets from the Nile could result in the loss of 200,000 acres of irrigated land. Sudan is also heavily reliant on water from the Nile, and shares Egypt's concerns. Abiy said Ethiopia was "willing to engage constructively" with the two countries. However, previous talks have failed to resolve differences. Why is Egypt worried about Ethiopia's dam on the Nile? Nile Dam row: Egypt and Ethiopia generate heat but no power River Nile dam: Why Ethiopia can't stop it being filled Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Focus on Africa This Is Africa
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Investors can't trust Labour, warns UK bond giant
Investors can no longer trust Labour after its multiple about-turns, bond giant Legal & General (L&G) has warned. Sonja Laud, the chief investment officer at L&G, said the decision to abandon key benefit reforms and reverse course on winter fuel payments had destroyed faith in the Government's economic plans. L&G is one of Britain's biggest investors, managing £1.1 trillion of assets. It is one of the biggest buyers of UK government debt. Ms Laud said: '[Markets] can't trust that what's been put forward will be put in place. You will see the adverse reaction. It was quite a big one yesterday.' It follows a dramatic day in which Rachel Reeves's tears in the House of Commons triggered a fall in the pound and a jump in borrowing costs. Investors were concerned that the Chancellor could be on the brink of leaving Downing Street, sparking fears that her fiscal rules could be abandoned. However, borrowing costs had been rising even before the Chancellor wept after Sir Keir Starmer gutted his welfare reforms on Tuesday night to avoid an embarrassing defeat on the legislation. The about-turn has blown a £5bn hole in Ms Reeves's budget. Ms Laud said: 'The changes we have seen ever since the first announcements from the Labour Party - and the intended changes they wanted to put forward - have subsequently been either watered down or changed. 'That's what the bond market does not like. The reaction in the gilt market yesterday [shows] that there clearly is an unwillingness to accept that lack of clarity.' She added that traders were still nervous after Liz Truss's mini-Budget. She said: 'There's heightened sensitivity in the UK because of what happened in 2022, where you had unfunded fiscal promises.' Ms Laud's comments come as Sir Keir and Ms Reeves scramble to repair the damage done this week. The Chancellor made a surprise appearance alongside the Prime Minister at an event on Thursday, at which she insisted she remained committed to her fiscal rules. The Prime Minister also said Ms Reeves would remain Chancellor 'for many years to come'. Borrowing costs dipped in response but remain higher than where they were just days ago. David Roberts, at Nedgroup Investments, said the bond market turmoil was a 'flashback to the days of Liz Truss'. 'Having been elected on a mandate to sort out public finances, to rein in benefit spending, it appears many in the [Labour] party have decided to return to their traditional tax and spend ideology,' he said. 'Failure to push through welfare reform whilst adhering to fiscal rules seems to leave the Government with little option other than to raise taxes.' Morgan Stanley warned that the struggling Chancellor could be as much as £30bn in the red against her fiscal rules ahead of the autumn Budget. With limited room to borrow or cut spending, 'tax hikes look most likely,' the bank said. Sir Keir's failure to grasp the nettle of welfare reform means Britain will spend £1.5bn a week on health and disability benefits for working-age adults by the end of the decade. The bill is on course to balloon to £75.7bn by 2029-30, up by one quarter from £60.4bn this year. It puts the cost of this portion of the welfare state on a par with the defence budget. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Zimbabwe Ruling Party Adds Sanctioned Tycoon to Leadership Ranks
Zimbabwe's ruling party added sanctioned tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei to its highest decision-making body, a move that could further strain relations with the US and other Western nations. The Central Committee of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front approved Tagwirei's membership on Thursday following a recommendation from the Harare Province executive, government spokesman Nick Mangwana said in a post on X.
