Starmer's top legal adviser forced to apologize for Nazi remarks

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Keir Starmer is under pressure to sack his top legal adviser today over a speech in which he compared demands that the UK quit the European Convention on Human Rights to early Nazi ideology. Attorney General Lord Hermer today apologised for an astonishing speech last night in which he accused right wing MPs and the media of being behind a 'siren song' pushing for Britain to drop international law.
Speaking at a London think tank the former human rights lawyer and close friend of the Prime Minister said such 'songs' had been heard before, citing Nazi ideologist Carl Schmitt, who supported Hitler's policies such as the Night of the Long Knives assassinations in 1934. The comparison triggered uproar today, with Robert Jenrick , a leading Tory proponent of leaving, branding it 'appalling'. This afternoon a spokeswoman for the Attorney General said he rejected the Tories' 'characterisation' of his speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
She said he was 'defending international law which underpins our security, protects against threats from aggressive states like Russia and helps tackle organised immigration crime ', but added : 'He acknowledges though that his choice of words was clumsy and regrets having used this reference.' Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called on the PM to sack the peer, who has been at the centre of controversy since being ennobled last year.
'From refusing to fight the case against Kneecap, to advising the government to hand over £30 billion and our territory in the Chagos Islands, Lord Hermer has shown appalling judgment time and again,' she said. 'Now he's calling people who disagree with him Nazis. This isn't just embarrassing, it's dangerous. Hermer doesn't understand government. He believes in the rule of lawyers, not the rule of law. 'If Keir Starmer had any backbone, he'd sack him. But will he risk upsetting his old friend and former donor? I doubt it.'
Lord Hermer used his lecture to say the Labour Government had a 'policy of progressive realism' that means it will never leave international conventions such as the ECHR. Numerous senior politicians on the Right have called for Britain to leave the convention after it blocked Rwanda deportation flights. Mrs Badenoch has stopped short of calling for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as other Conservative figures have advocated.
However, she suggested the UK would have to leave the convention if it stops the country from doing 'what is right'. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he would get rid of the ECHR, and told ITV in April that 'we have to get back the ability to decide, can we really control our borders'. In his lecture, the Attorney General said: 'Our approach is a rejection of the siren song that can sadly now be heard in the Palace of Westminster and in some spectrums of the media, that Britain abandons the constraints of international law in favour of raw power.
'This is not a new song. The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when conditions change, is a claim that was made in the early 1930s by 'realist' jurists in Germany , most notably Carl Schmitt, whose central thesis was in essence the claim that state power is all that counts, not law. 'Because of the experience of what followed in 1933, far-sighted individuals rebuilt and transformed the institutions of international law, as well as internal constitutional law.' He conceded that 'international law cannot stand still and rest on its laurels', that it must be 'critiqued and where necessary reformed and improved' and that 'we must be ready to reform where necessary'.
Education Minister Catherine McKinnell this morning said that his speech had been 'quite thoughtful'. And she doubled down on the link between quitting the ECHR and dictators, telling Times Radio: 'Any discussion around withdrawing from the international stage just supports people and the agenda of people like [Vladimir] Putin.' But critics point out that the ECHR is unlikely to bow to calls for reform amid accusations it has overstepped its remit in a string of cases.
Tory justice spokesman Mr Jenrick, an advocate of ending Britain's 72-year membership, said: 'The idea you can reform the ECHR is fanciful as it requires unanimity from all 46 signatories. 'It is appalling Hermer would insinuate those who think we should leave the ECHR are like the Nazis. '[Foreign Secretary] David Lammy tried that disgusting smeer with Brexiteers and it didn't work for him. It won't work for Hermer either. 'It seems Labour haven't learned a thing.'
The row comes after complaints about Lord Hermer, who is a close friend of the Prime Minister, both having been human rights lawyers. His suitability has also been questioned after it emerged that, before taking up the role last year, he repeatedly brought cases against the Government on behalf of terrorists, including 9/11 plotter Mustafa al-Hawsawi and jihadi bride Shamima Begum. He also acted for former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who has always denied being a member of the IRA. The Attorney General's office was contacted for comment.