Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy has referred Attorney General Richard Hermer to the Bar Standards Board for his role in the Al-Sweady litigation against British troops. Alleging professional misconduct…
Timothy alleges that Hermer took the case on a conditional fee arrangement instead of off the cab rank, and continued as lead counsel even after it became clear claims against British troops were baseless. A public inquiry in 2014 found that allegations of murder and torture by British servicemen in Iraq were without foundation…
Timothy says Hermer advised Leigh Day in 2008 on a press release, suggesting language about executions be made more explicit to “generate sufficient interest.” He adds that Hermer was still pushing for settlements of between £45,000 and £55,000 for each claimant in 2013 when the case had all but collapsed. Timothy alleges Hermer continued to defend the claims’ legal viability in evidence to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2017…
The letter argues that Hermer has breached conduct rules around misleading courts and third parties, advancing improper claims, and pressing for public money in settlement of known false allegations.He also asks the BSB to waive its normal 12-month reporting window on the basis that the documents only became public yesterday and to open a formal investigation. Ball in their court now…
Read the full letter below:
Continue reading “Shadow Justice Secretary Refers Attorney General to Bar Standards Board”
Defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones was forced to correct the record in the Commons today after she claimed that Starmer had never worked with disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner. As Guido revealed two years ago, Starmer literally contributed an entire chapter to Shiner’s book in 2008. Starmer also advised Shiner on a legal challenge aiming to stop peace activists’ taxes from funding military action…
Sandher-Jones was forced to make a Point of Order today to apologise:
“I would like to correct the record in relation to something I said during the last defence orals. On the 2nd of February, 2026, I said the prime minister did not work with any of Phil Shiner’s organisations and his role was limited to working with the law society on points of law. However, since then, it has been brought to my attention that in 2006, the prime minister was instructed to represent an individual by the law firm for which Mr. Shiner was the principal solicitor. So I would like to take this earliest opportunity to apologise to the House and correct the record.”
No defence for that…
The Telegraph has gone very big on Starmer’s contribution to a book by disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner in which he carps about the ECHR’s uses in prosecuting British troops. Their ‘exclusive’ investigation may sound familiar to co-conspirators…
Guido revealed that Starmer had contributed an entire chapter to Shiner’s book. In December 2024…
Starmer’s chapter was titled “Responsibility for Troops Abroad: UN-Mandated Forces and Issues of Human Rights Accountability.” Using one example Starmer explicitly argued that the ECHR’s jurisdiction should extend such that troops in action could be prosecuted more readily. Shiner – prior to being struck off – provided glowing praise for Starmer in the foreword of his book. Why won’t sharks attack human rights lawyers? Out of professional courtesy…
Yesterday, disgraced former human rights lawyer Phil Shiner received a two-year suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud connected to his notorious cases against British soldiers in Iraq. Hacks have noted that Starmer, the self-proclaimed champion of justice, has quite the history with Shiner…
Back in 2005, Starmer advised Shiner on a legal challenge aiming to stop peace activists’ taxes from funding military action. By 2006, he was representing a suspected terrorist in Iraq suing the UK government for unlawful detention—another case brought to him by Shiner. The collaboration didn’t end there…
Guido’s spotted that in 2008, Starmer contributed an entire chapter to Shiner’s book The Iraq War and International Law. Shiner’s glowing foreword heaps praise on Starmer’s work:
“The fact that the court may be required to consider political negotiations and discussions does not imply that the issue is non-justiciable. One need look no further than Keir Starmer’s chapter in this volume on the case of Al-Jedda for that proposition to be made good.”
Starmer’s chapter titled “Responsibility for Troops Abroad: UN-Mandated Forces and Issues of Human Rights Accountability”, runs for 20 pages and delves into the “UN Security Council as a legislative body” and the “role of international law” . One human rights case Starmer discusses is that of Ruzhdi Saramati, who was detained for 6 months without trial by Kosovo Forces troops in 2001 on suspicion of attempted murder and illegal possession of a weapon (he was later convicted of attempted murder in 2002). Saramati alleged a breach of Article 5 of the ECHR for the detainment. The ECHR ruled that actions taken by Kosovo Forces were attributable to the UN, not individual states and as the ECHR lacked jurisdiction over the UN, the case was deemed inadmissible. The ruling prompted Starmer to conclude:
“The obvious concern about the decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Behrami/Saramati is that it might undermine the accountability of troops operating abroad that can be established through international human rights law. Such political accountability as there may be for the UN through the Security Council is no substitute for legal accountability under international human rights law. Either the approach taken in Behrami/Saramati, and perhaps the whole delegation thesis, has to be re-examined, or the accountability mechanisms of the UN have to be radically, and speedily, overhauled.”
As Sir Keir boasted at PMQs, he spent five years as a human rights lawyer. Clearly, Shiner thought highly of his former colleague’s legal reflections. Looks like Haigh isn’t the only fraudster Starmer’s been cosy with…
The National Crime Agency says that ex-lawyer Phil Shiner has pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud in relation to applications made in 2007 for public funding for legal action against the MoD. Shiner’s legal challenge led to a public inquiry into alleged atrocities by British Troops in Iraq in 2004…
Seven years later the inquiry concluded that claims British soldiers executed Iraqi prisoners and tortured others were completely untrue. Shiner pleaded guilty to charges related to his failure to disclose the fact that he had paid for referrals and asked a middleman to approach claimants when applying for public funding. The NCA’s International Corruption Unit chief said:
“This conviction is a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex domestic and international investigation. Shiner’s actions resulted in untold pressure and anxiety on members of the British Armed Forces, pursuing legal challenges funded through dishonest actions.”
Shiner will go on to be convicted at Southwark Crown Court in December. The end of a years-long saga…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”