Eyebrows are hitting the ceiling over Attorney General Richard Hermer, with pressure piling on the PM to recuse him of involvement in public inquiries amid growing concerns of potential conflicts of interest. Guido gives co-conspirators some of Starmer’s top legal adviser’s more curious cases against the government in the past:
- Hermer pocketed £30,000 to represent Gerry Adams in a High Court case against IRA bomb victims. The case heads to trial next year. A reminder that Starmer is planning to allow Gerry and 400 other IRA suspects compensation…
- In 2020, Hermer acted for Liberty against the Home Office, the human rights group that argued for Shamima Begum’s right to return to the UK to appeal her citizenship revocation.
- In 2023, Hermer represented Afghan families accusing Britain’s Armed Forces of war crimes during the Independent Inquiry on Afghanistan. Sparking Robert Jenrick to call for Hermer to “publicly recuse” himself from involvement in the Afghanistan inquiry…
- Hermer fought the Home Office to help migrants stay in the UK, contesting guidance on how age should be assessed. He acted for Eritrean man claiming to be an unaccompanied child. The Supreme Court rejected the argument in 2021…
- From 2021 to 2021, Hermer represented Palestinian former Guantanamo Bay detainee, alleged terrorist and reported “senior bin Laden official” Abu Zubaydah against the Foreign Office. Zubaydah alleged that between 2002 and 2006 he was unlawfully rendered by CIA agent, and Hermer brought the case to the UK, alleging that UK intelligence services were complicit…
Meanwhile, Hermer also advised Labour on their boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) bill targeting Israel, whilst previously pushing for the International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel qualifies as an “apartheid state.” He’s also close pals with Starmer’s mate and Mauritius’ chief legal adviser Philippe Sands from their Matrix Chambers days. Not to mention he donated £5,000 towards Starmer’s leadership campaign…
