Guido has highlighted Lord Hermer’s influence over government decision-making from the start. Now, documents seen by The Telegraph reveal just how far that control extends. Hermer has personally rewritten official guidance originally issued by former Attorney General Suella Braverman. Effectively handing himself a veto over policies and boosting powers of the lawyer class in Whitehall…
Lawyers are told to assume every ministerial decision could face legal challenge. A new “snitch clause” forces civil servants to report directly to Hermer if they suspect ministers might be about to act unlawfully. He also instructs lawyers and civil servants to treat international law on the same footing as national law:
“The rule of law requires compliance by the state with its obligations in international law as in national law, even though they operate on different planes.”
It now includes 23 references to international law. Hermer has also blocked the Government from using Parliament to override international agreements, effectively shutting down any route around the ECHR. Ministers are bound regardless of manifesto promises or parliamentary will…
Across government, patience is wearing thin. As Guido reported, senior figures – including McFadden, Thomas-Symonds and Mahmood – are fuming over Hermer’s habit of strangling policy with sweeping, maximalist legal advice. How much longer can Starmer protect Blocker Hermer?
Red Wall Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash told GB News that Starmer should resign:
“I’m completely fed up about it, and I think it’s got to the point now where I genuinely think that, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it’s not a case of if, it’s when.”