
Richard Hermer's campaign against Britain
Five years ago, the man who is now Lord Hermer gave an interview to the Times. The then QC was asked how he'd want to be remembered. The answer he gave was curious. 'The world will be a better place,' he said, 'when privileged men like me stop seeking a place in history.' I'm not sure who Lord Hermer thinks should be seeking a place in history, though I assume he was just paying lip service to the spirit of 2020 and wanted to be read to mean that in future most of the running should be done by underprivileged transsexuals.
While I cannot agree on the substance, I can agree on one specific. The world would certainly be a much better place if people like Lord Hermer stopped seeking historic roles. For although he is now the Attorney General of England and Wales, there is little to suggest that his noble lordship has any love for this country. Indeed, he appears to have spent his career defending anyone who literally wants to attack us.
In their recent efforts to explain the Attorney General's unfortunate list of past clients, Hermer's defenders claim that as a barrister he had to obey the 'cab-rank' rules of the job. It was for this reason, they say, that Hermer spent his career defending such clients as Gerry Adams and almost every variety of Islamic terrorist. Yet the claim is demonstrably daft. To have represented one al-Qaeda terrorist might be a duty, but to represent at least five would seem to be a habit. Never mind that your other clients include the families of Isis members and so on.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
BBC will not appeal against Adams' defamation case victory
The BBC will not appeal over Gerry Adams' defamation victory against the organisation. Mr Adams, a former president of Sinn Fein, said there needed to be 'substantial reform' of the broadcaster. Mr Adams took the BBC to court over a 2016 episode of its Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, which he said defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, in which he denies any involvement. Last month, a jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour and awarded him 100,000 euros (£84,000) after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article. The BBC, which was found by the jury not to have acted in good faith nor in a fair and reasonable way, was also ordered to pay the former Sinn Fein leader's legal costs. After the decision, the broadcaster's legal team was granted a stay in the payment of the full award as it took time to consider an appeal. However, on Friday, the BBC confirmed it would not pursue an appeal. A spokesperson said: 'We have given careful consideration to the jury's decision. 'We will not be appealing its verdict, bringing this matter to a conclusion. 'We remain committed to public interest journalism and to serving all BBC audiences.' In a statement issued through the Sinn Fein press office on Friday, Mr Adams said: 'The decision not to appeal by the British Broadcasting Corporation has to be followed by a substantial reform of its internal journalistic processes and a recognition that it cannot continue to be a voice for the British state in Ireland. 'It must also become more accountable to the public. 'The Dublin Court found the BBC guilty of libel and rejected its claim that its journalism was fair and reasonable and in the public interest. 'The British Broadcasting Corporation is a public service provider. There is an onus on the BBC to ensure that in the future its ethics and journalism reflect the principles and values of a public broadcast service. 'As I have already said the damages will be donated to good causes.'


BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Gerry Adams: BBC will not appeal libel case victory
The BBC has confirmed that it will not be appealing Gerry Adams' libel case former Sinn Féin leader sued the corporation over a 2016 BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight story and online article on the murder of British agent Denis month, a jury found Mr Adams, 76, was defamed when it was alleged by an anonymous contributor that he sanctioned the 2006 killing and awarded him €100,000 (£84,000) in combined legal costs of both parties is estimated at between €3-5m (£2.5-4.2m), according to sources with knowledge of the case. A BBC spokesperson said: "We have given careful consideration to the jury's decision. "We will not be appealing its verdict, bringing this matter to a conclusion. We remain committed to public interest journalism and to serving all BBC audiences."


New Statesman
7 hours ago
- New Statesman
Netanyahu realises his lifelong dream
People look over damage to buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. Photo byIn the early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched a full-scale campaign against Iran, as waves of air strikes targeted the Islamic regime's nuclear programme and military bases. The attack – known as Operation Rising Lion — was staggering in its scale and ambition. It's hard to overstate just how devastating Israel's strikes have been for Iran's already brittle leadership. Iranian state media has reported that the strikes killed Gen Hossein Salami, who, as head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was Iran's most prominent military official, along with other top generals Mohammad Bagheri, the army chief of staff, and Gholamali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya joint forces headquarters. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said that the strikes killed most of the IRGC air force leadership, who were meeting together at the time of the attack. Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who also oversees the nuclear programme, was wounded according to Iran's state media. Less clear is how significant the hit was to Iran's nuclear programme. The Israeli military says it hit Iran's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, striking 'infrastructure vital for the site's continued operation and the advancement of Iran's military nuclear project'. Half a dozen Iranian nuclear scientists, including the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, were also targeted and killed. Israel launched its attack less than 24 hours after the the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, and just 48 hours before Iranian officials were due to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff for another round of nuclear talks in Oman. In a pre-recorded video statement released online, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 'for decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction. They backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a programme to develop nuclear weapons.' He also said: 'The Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust.' It is a dramatic escalation in an ever widening conflict that has already brutalised Gaza, and expanded into Lebanon and been felt in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Even as Israel continued to strike, Iran retaliated, launching more than 100 drones at Israel. An IDF spokesman said in televised remarks on Friday morning that Israel's air defenses were already 'working to intercept the threats'. While further retaliation is certain — Khamenei has said that Israel 'should anticipate a harsh punishment' — it's unclear what form it will take. Iran launched major ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel two times last year, prompting the US, UK and other European allies to swarm to Israel's defence (the vast majority of those missiles and drones were intercepted before they reached the country). Yet now, following Israel's strikes, it's unclear whether Iran is even able to launch a similar attack; Israel claims it has destroyed dozens of Iranian radars and missile launchers. Iran could also respond with attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf, which would severely disrupt the movement of global oil supplies, or strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or the UAE. (Oil prices have already spiked for this reason.) It's clear that the US is already concerned about possible retaliation on US military bases in the region; earlier this week, the US made moves to partially evacuate its embassy in Iraq and authorised the voluntary departure of American military family members from the region. After Friday's strikes began, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, released a statement saying that Israel had taken 'unilateral action', that the US was 'not involved' and that Iran 'should not target US interests or personnel'. Donald Trump was slightly more colourful in his own statement, posting online that he 'gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal' regarding its nuclear programme, but 'they just couldn't get it done'. He also said 'the next already planned attacks' could be 'even more brutal,' and warned that Tehran 'must make a deal, before there is nothing left'. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe It's clear that Israel's campaign against Iran isn't over. Netanyahu, who has long wanted regime change in Iran, has said that the operation 'will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat'. What's less clear is whether the US can avoid becoming entangled in another Middle East conflict. Iran, with its neutered proxies and limping economy, has been seriously weakened in recent years. Yet if it does respond to Israel's attack by striking American bases or embassies in the region, Trump might be compelled to respond directly. Trump, who has long railed against America's misbegotten 'forever wars', will not want to be drawn into an increasingly volatile conflict. But, if things continue to escalate, that might not matter. [See also: Labour MPs are revolting over Gaza] Related